“We had nothing comparable.” —Friedrich von Mellenthin (Panzer Battles)

The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II. First produced in Kharkov (Kharkiv, Ukraine), it was the mainstay of Soviet armoured forces throughout World War II, and widely exported afterwards. It was the most-produced tank of the war, and the second most-produced tank of all time, after its successor, the T-54/55 series (Harrison 2002). In 1996, the T-34 was still in service in at least twenty-seven countries.
As many as 84,070 T-34s are estimated to have been built, plus 13,170 self-propelled guns built on the T-34's chassis. Some of these ended up in various Cold War conflicts around the world.
Due to the large number produced, there are hundreds of surviving T-34s. Examples of this tank are in the collections of most significant military museums, and hundreds more serve as war memorials mostly in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. One of them shown in the pictures is preserving in Kharkiv.
Learn more about T-34 at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-34
See video about T-34 “Top Ten Tanks- # 1: The T-34” at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVg6gFmuRlE