Already early in 1944 no KV-1 Model 1940, 1941 and 1942 was still in active frontline service. They had by then been withdrawn to second and third line units. But several SU/ISU assault gun units did use the KV-1S as a command vehicle until the end of the war.
The KV-85 was used in limited numbers until the end of the war which make it possible for it to have entered Berlin in May 1945.
Most KV-2´s had been destroyed by the summer of 1942 and the few left were withdrawn since it´s heavy weight proved to be much to troublesome (the Soviets had for example not a single vehicle which was capable of towing it if it got stuck in mud etc and thus, most of their KV-2 losses were due to knocked off tracks, stuck in mud etc).
To say that the KV-1 were a failure is nothing but a sheer lie. For it´s time it was one of the best tanks and even more importantly, the Soviet engineers and tank designers learned a lot from it, experience that they had good use of when designing the IS1/IS2.
When it was first put to use, it was the Russian equivalent to the German Tiger I.
T34/76 had 45mm of slooped armor but still, the KV1 had better armor protection. The biggest mistake the KV1 designers made, were to put a 76mm main gun on a heavy tank (same gun as the T34/76 used) instead of adding a bigger gun. When the KV85 arrived, the T34/85 were already in production and deemed to be a better tank and thus production of KV´s dropped off.
Captured KV1/KV2 were used by the Germans until destroyed or until they ran out of spare parts. The last combat use of the KV2 were in 1945 in German hands.
~Zeke.
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