Ukrainian drone operators have struck a Russian T-90 tank and prevented Moscow's forces reclaiming the vehicle, according to Kyiv.
"Operators of the 'Rarog' strike drone company of the 24th Mechanized Brigade damaged the newest Russian tank T-90, and prevented its evacuation with another hit," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a post to social media on Wednesday. The Rarog is a mythological fire demon.
In the footage, drone clips show the tank in an unspecified location before an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) strikes the vehicle. A second drone then hits the area next to the damaged tank.
"Two drones worth several thousand dollars destroyed a tank worth three million dollars," the Defense Ministry wrote on Twitter.
It is difficult to establish the cost of the varying models of T-90 tank, which reportedly range up to around $4.5 million. Ukraine has previously published footage showing Kyiv's fighters targeting T-90 tanks, which are upgraded versions of the earlier T-72.
According to Dutch open-source intelligence outlet, Oryx, Russia has lost 35 T-90A, 1 T-90AK and 7 T-90S tanks since February 2022. Per this count, Russia has also lost a further 25 T-90M tanks, which Russia has touted as a "breakthrough" vehicle. However, this estimate of Russia's military losses is considered conservative and will likely be higher.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Operators of the "Rarog" strike drone company of the 24th Mechanized Brigade damaged the newest russian tank T-90, and prevented its evacuation with another hit.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) July 12, 2023
Two drones worth several thousand dollars destroyed a tank worth three million dollars. This is what modern warfare… pic.twitter.com/WjKKSHg2ak
"This is what modern warfare looks like," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
Drones have featured prominently in the war effort for both Russia and Ukraine. Drones "are the super weapon here," Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, told Newsweek in February.
Drones, particularly Iranian-made Shahed UAVs, have been used by Russia as a cheaper alternative to missile strikes, with Ukraine often needing to deploy more costly air defenses to bring them down.
On Wednesday, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said Russian forces had launched 20 Shahed drone strikes on Ukrainian targets overnight.
The UAVs were launched from the Russian base in Kursk, on Ukraine's northeastern border, and from a military facility at Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia's Krasnodar region.
All 20 drones were brought down by Ukrainian air defenses, the military said in an operational update.
But Ukraine has also invested in its "army of drones," looking to what experts say is a rapidly developing technology that is here to stay.
The drone war was "very much escalating," according to Steve Wright, senior research fellow in avionics and aircraft systems at the University of the West of England, U.K. Drones will only become a more common feature on the battlefield, he told Newsweek earlier this month.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more
