Originally Posted by ribka
so that is how Russians use tanks and BMP's in their infantry and marines? Russia has no ammunition now?

Where did you read that?

The T34 had a 3 inch gun. The T54 had a 100mm gun Both much smaller than the T72/T82. Why would they have current ammo for either? Priming and powder from WWII was corrosive and deteriorated respectively.

Getting enough out of those old tanks to cover the cost of fuel has to come from somewhere, and the only logical place is burning off ammunition the Ukes have so they don't spend that ammo on their current tanks. The are using their T72/T82 tanks because had they started with the T90s/T14s they'd have nothing left but the T72/T82 junkers. 500 gallons of fuel at their cost is probably a worthwhile trade off for them if they can get the Ukes to shoot something expensive at the old T34/T54 tanks.