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Janes Defense Weekly wrote: April 1st, 2014. A Russian army armored battalion has arrived in Crimea equipped with the first main battle tanks (MBT) to be deployed by Russia on the contested peninsula since the start of the stand-off between Moscow and Kiev last month.

The unit, which included more than 30 T-72 tanks, was shown to the international media being unloaded at a railway cargo yard near the large Russian air and logistical base at Gvardeyskoe on 31 March.
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Up to this deployment, the Russian military had relied on wheeled armored vehicles during its operation in the Crimea. The movement of the tank unit is thought to be part of a continuing build-up of forces to prevent any Ukrainian attempt to retake the peninsula. It is expected to move the unit up towards the new border with Ukraine, in the north of Crimea, to give Russian commanders more offensive and defensive options. The units deployed in this region up to now had been predominately equipped with wheeled BTR-80 armored personnel carriers, backed up by 122mm and 152mm towed artillery.

This reinforcement will also allow the Russian airborne forces and naval infantry units, which spearheaded the initial Russian operation, to be pulled back from duty in Crimea and reconstituted for future operations.