Complete Soviet tank pulled out of a river in Russia after sitting in 18ft of water for more than 60 YEARS
The unique T-34 tank was pulled from the Don river after being found submerged
A WORLD War Two tank has been pulled from the bottom of one of Russia's main rivers.
The tanker, a T-34-76 tank, was recovered from the murky bottom of the Don River by Patriot Park specialists, servicemen of Russia's Western Military District and divers - with it hoped extensive restoration works will allow the tank to even run again.
The 30-ton tank had been sitting in 6m of water and was discovered by the Patriot Park specialists.
The tanks had been made at the Stalingrad Tractor Factory - which is now the city of Volgograd.
But the recently recovered tank is understood to be one of the last surviving tanks of its kind after the majority were destroyed in battles against Nazi Germany during the early years of the war.
After being hauled from the water, the tanker, which had been found in April, was hosed down by workers called into help the recovery process.
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The recovery operation was undertaken near Ukrainskaya Builovka with the tank itself believed to have been submerged for more than 60 years.
It is understood the tank had been driving along a bridge across the river when it fell into the river, most likely in the early 1940s.
Other military artefacts were found in the discovery with sunken pontoons, transport vehicles and other small vessels found in the water nearby.
TASS reported that Head of the Patriot Park Department for Exhibits’ Search, Repair and Restoration Anatoly Kalemberg said: "If it is restored externally, this won’t be difficult and won’t take much time as it has remained in a very good condition. If we start restoring it to its running condition, this will take more time.
"I hope we’ll restore it to the running condition."
