Putin wants to send Russian kids to war in those old beasts? None of them can take a hit from anything bigger than what tanks of their own era mounted, and the one shown is probably vulnerable to the old WWII German 88mm gun. A modern 152 or 155 would blow that boxy turret right off, killing everyone inside.

Wondering if this war is going to burn itself out, with Russia sending 80 year old junk to the front, Ukraine's army supposedly beset by desertion, and conscription causing domestic warfare in both countries?

Such a burnout would probably protect Ukraine from a future repeat invasion because it will take a long time for Putin to recover.

first you have to remember that russian strategy among others is to eat the ammunition of the enemy. So even the oldest tank can consume some RPG or even attention of another tank for short time. It doesn't mean that they don't have any tanks, they are just way more resourceful this days.

I'm not sure about which warfare you are talking about - resistance against the war in #Russia is very limited and small. Resistance against the war in Ukraine itself mostly mobilizes those who would resist the war if the power dynamic would have been different. However the fight against russian occupation is a priority for most of political forces.

Also not sure about mass desertion in ukrainian army - where did you read this? There are for sure a lot of people avoiding mobilization, but I haven't heard anything about mass desertion. Russian do have problem with that, but nothing that can affect their general war efforts.