(All images by Caters News)
Forlorn and seemingly forgotten, rotting away amid a massive tank graveyard outside the city of Kharkov, these abandoned fighting vehicles may have proved useful to Ukraine in its struggle against the Russian forces of Vladimir Putin, which annexed the internationally-recognised Ukrainian territory of Crimea in March 2014. But it’s years since the corroding Soviet-era hulks have seen action.
These compelling photographs were taken by urban explorer Patvel Itkin, who spent months researching the mysterious facility after hearing about it from a friend. The vehicle cemetery took some tracking down, but once inside, Itkin discovered row upon row of abandoned tanks, many of them dating back to the 1960s and ’70s when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.
The haunting scenes have a post-apocalyptic atmosphere, as if the epic fight for which the vehicles were constructed had since passed, and with it the last remnants of humanity.
“It took me many months to track down this place”, said Itkin, adding: “I had heard about it from a friend and decided it would be a great place to take pictures. The area is guarded but there didn’t seem to be anyone around when I got there, I guess I was just lucky.”
He added: “Once I got inside I was walking around the grounds for about two hours, the plant is stunning, I was amazed by the scale.”
Despite appearances, the rundown facility is actually a repair depot. But it’s clear that the vast majority of these mothballed relics are derelict, making the site more a tank cemetery than a refurbishing plant.
Among the rusting hulks are Soviet T-72 main battle tanks, which first entered service in 1971 and remain in use with Ukrainian forces to this day. Faded by the sun and battered by the harsh winter climate, their fearsome shells stand side-by-side amid the long grass of the neglected facility, which is located around 30 miles from the Russian border.
Many of these former fighting vehicles were reportedly built at the near Malyshev Factory. At its peak the depot could renovate around 60 tanks and 55 engines each month. But work wound down following the fall of the Berlin Wall in the 1990s, leaving little more than an eerie tank graveyard in its wake.
Though a small number of engineers reportedly remain on site to tinker with the occasional modern tank from time to time, hundreds of older fighting vehicles have been left out in the cold to rust, while piles of corroding diesel engines lie nearby.
The fate of this abandoned tank graveyard remains to be seen, but it seems clear that the rugged vehicles have fought their last, and that their fearsome 2A46 125 mm guns will remain forever silent. While the depot remains in use, though, the haunting tank cemetery will likely linger on.
Related – Explore 30 Abandoned Tanks and Armoured Vehicles Across the World
The post Exploring a Vast, Abandoned Soviet Tank Graveyard at Kharkov, Ukraine appeared first on Urban Ghosts.