The T-90M tank, the most modern combat vehicle of the Russian army, was spectacularly destroyed by the Ukrainian armed forces with the help of grenades dropped from a drone.

In the video, Ukrainian operators can be seen launching at least two grenades at the tank before the catastrophic detonation of its munitions aboard the tank lifted the turret of the combat vehicle into the air.

Although not as visible in the drone footage, footage posted by the video’s editors at the end of the frame shows the turret then falling in close proximity to the tank, suggesting vertical “flight” after impact.

Some netizens assumed that the photo of the tank at the very beginning of the video shows that the combat vehicle was already abandoned by the crew before it was shot down by the Ukrainians.

Although not entirely clear, this strike remains notable for at least two reasons: 1) it is a Russian main battle tank that entered service with the country’s armed forces in 2019 and should theoretically be able to handle some such strikes; 2) the Ukrainians perfected this technique of launching grenades from drones a few months after the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24.

By comparison, the estimated production cost of the T-90M tank is $5 million, while the RGK-3 high-explosive anti-tank grenade costs about $15.

How many T-90M tanks did the Russians lose in Ukraine

The Russian army threw a T-90 tank into battle in Ukraine in May, the first was destroyed by the Ukrainians only a few days after it arrived at the front.

Later, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine released a video showing how its fighters destroy the most modern tank in the Russian army’s arsenal with the Swedish-made Carl Gustav anti-tank grenade launcher.

“We thank the people and the King of Sweden for their help,” the Ministry of Defense in Kyiv said at the time, emphasizing that this launcher was used to destroy the “pride of Russian tank-building.”

Only on November 28 was there confirmation that the Ukrainians destroyed the second T-90M tank, which was part of an armored column destroyed in the Kharkiv region, probably during the chaotic withdrawal of Russian troops from there.

The third T-90M tank was destroyed by the Ukrainians in mid-December, having been hit by a mobile anti-tank installation “Stugna-P”.

But these were hits, confirmed by videos that appeared on social networks. The well-known site Oryx, which monitors losses on both sides of the war in Ukraine, claims that the Russians would have lost a total of 8 tanks of this model: 3 destroyed, 3 heavily damaged (including one abandoned) and two captured by the Ukrainians.

The capture of the first T-90M tank by the Ukrainian troops was confirmed by the photos that the Kyiv military distributed on September 18.

The capture of the second T-90M was confirmed by a video shared by the Ukrainians earlier this month:

According to estimates, before the start of the war, the Russian armed forces had about 100 such tanks in service, which means that Russia has lost almost 10% of its most modern main battle tank.

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