[Spike11]

"Well, it is likely that those tanks did not serve in combat long enough for any ammo shortage issue to manifest itself. IIRC they were taken out relatively early during the fights. However barrel fired ATGMs were a limited issue and several models required advanced training to be used, so I think that removing them may make sense."

I think your comments make sense, particularly re T-80U and ATGMs. However - and this is more of a question - isn't it likely that the Russians used more CS style tanks themselves? Afterall, they weren't expecting to fight a highly mechanised force, thus more HE rounds would make sense for them too (although very little made sense for the Russian army during the 94-95 Chechen campaign, so I might be on thin ice here...).