FSB and customs officers curb illegal attempt to take T-34 tank out of Russia

A T-34 tank. Source: FSB / Press photo

Officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Ural customs service have found a 1945-made T-34-85 tank during the inspection of a train in the city of Kartaly, in Russia's Ural Chelyabinsk Region, heading across the Russian-Kazakh border.

A criminal case was opened on attempted smuggling of cultural values, as a tank shipped in transit across Russia was found on the train, the press service of the regional FSB department said on Aug.5.

A T-34 tank. Source: FSB / Press photo

Experts found that the tank's armor was out of combat order. The tank's cost was estimated at two million rubles.

"The Soviet medium-sized tank T-34-85 was taken into service by the Red Army on January 23, 1944 and was the final T-34 modification. After the end of the war it formed the backbone of tank forces of the Soviet Army up to the mid-1950s," the press release said.

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