In the Voronezh region, a T-34-76 tank, produced at the Stalingrad Tractor Plant in the summer of 1942, was raised from the bottom of the Don River.

The operation to raise the only surviving T-34-76 tank, produced at the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, from the bottom of the Don River has been completed near the village of Ukrainskaya Builovka in the Voronezh region.

Specialists from the Patriot Park near Moscow, service members from the Western Military District, and divers took part in the operation. The tank was successfully recovered from a depth of 7 meters by an armored recovery vehicle (BREM-1) based on the MBT-72. The vehicle, which had lain on the riverbed for over half a century, survived the operation.

Previously, Anatoly Kalemberg, head of the exhibit search, repair, and restoration department at Patriot Park near Moscow, reported that all T-34 tanks produced at the Stalingrad plant were destroyed during fighting in the early years of the war. There are two versions of how the T-34-76 ended up at the bottom of the Don River. The first version, according to local residents, is that during the retreat, troops scuttled the tank to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. According to Kalemberg, the fact that the tank’s armament was not removed speaks against this version.

The second theory is that the tank was being transported across a pontoon bridge and fell into the river. This theory is supported by the presence of sunken pontoons, vehicles, and small boats on the riverbed nearby. Kalemberg added that the tank was most likely lost in the summer of 1942.

Earlier, the Patriot Park near Moscow reported that the tank weighs approximately 30 tons. After the tank is raised from the seabed, Patriot Park specialists and sappers will conduct a preliminary examination and open the turret hatch. They will determine whether the remains of the crew and personal belongings are inside and retrieve the ammunition, if any is found. The T-34’s small arms will be removed and handed over to law enforcement officers, after which the tank will be loaded onto a flatbed truck and transported to Patriot Park.