A tank with only 36 metric tons can pop up at surprising spots that are impossible to reach for the 46t tanks. The western tanks > 65t have to use the streets when it rains in the Ukraine.
They also build new T-80s because sometimes you need a very fast tank (gas turbine 1200hp 46t).
Well put. Additionally, using older tanks as de facto self-propelled guns is a solid strategy. Russia has hordes of T-55s, so the marginal cost of using them is negligible. Though they're archaic as tanks, they're far more mobile and survivable than towed howitzers. Since Russia's strategy has always been artillery-centric, making a portion of your artillery immune to most counter battery fire is a big deal. It'd take a direct hit to take one out, unlike 95% of Russian artillery that's dead or mission-killed by HE airbursting anywhere nearby and turning Ivan into hamburger. T-55s dont care about shrapnel.
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