Moscow sends its combat tanks to the border with Afghanistan

Moscow sends its combat tanks to the border with Afghanistan

Russia will try to strengthen the joint border after the U.S. forces withdrew from the region in the last weeks, RT writes.

In a statement issued by Russian defense chiefs on Friday, officials said the latest hardware would be delivered to troops stationed in the mountainous Central Asian state.

"By the end of this year, 30 modern tanks will replace the earlier combat vehicles used by the tank battalion at the Russian military base in Tajikistan," said Colonel Hanif Beglov, commander of the armored division for the Central Military District.

The Moscow Ministry of Defense is in the process of introducing the main battle tank T-72B3M, an upgraded variant of the model that was first developed by the Soviet Union in 1973. Although the original version quickly became a mainstay of the Red Army's armored corps, it is understood that it never saw action in the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan, where fighting had lasted for a decade since 1979.

The Russian leadership emphasizes that the T-72B3M is heavier armor, providing better protection to the crew and its internal mechanisms, while at the same time using an improved cannon with the possibility of thermal imaging.

The crew can also depend on the new communication system and is protected from loud noises, allowing commanders to stay in touch and coordinate on the battlefield even while firing at enemy positions.

In July, one of Moscow's top generals said his country would step up its support for neighboring Afghanistan through the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which consists of six former Soviet republics, including Tajikistan. Since then, thousands of Russian and Tajik soldiers, as well as those from nearby Uzbekistan, have conducted colossal exercises near the border, designed to practice repelling attacks.

There are fears that instability in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the United States could spill over borders into neighboring countries, and that drug trafficking and illegal migration could grow as a result of that.