The Russian government has suffered a number of setbacks as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. Moscow has had nothing to celebrate in terms of displaying competent military power, from the loss of its Slava-type ship Moskva in April to the notorious 40 miles long Russian army convoy holdup outside Kyiv early in the conflict. A Russian T-90M a new and unique main combat tank has been wrecked on the ground by Ukrainian forces, according to photographic evidence.
On May 4, The Kyiv Independent’s defense system correspondent Illia Ponomarenko posted a photo on Twitter that purports to show the remains of a T-90M tank that are still blazing after a direct hit somewhere within Ukraine’s northern Kharkiv Oblast. Andriy Tsaplienko may be seen reporting in the foreground.
Given its standing as Russia’s most operationally advanced and sophisticated tank inside its front military inventory, news of what appears to have been the first T-90M tank being destroyed in Ukraine should cheer Ukrainian soldiers. The 2nd Guard Kalinin Taman Motorized Rifle Brigade’s 1st Guard Tank Army received the first batch of T-90M tanks in the springtime of 2020, with the latest estimates estimating that only 100 or so models are now in service. The T-14 Armata main combat tanks, which have been well praised but have yet to be confirmed, are not yet ready for front action and are in low quantity, as reported.
I mean, who could guess that the first Russian T-90M would be hunted down within days after their much-advertised deployment to Ukraine’s Kharkiv Oblast.
Say hi to our big friend Andriy Tsapliyenko. pic.twitter.com/1GaFuHcgR8— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) May 4, 2022
Video from Rosgvardia. 2/https://t.co/uyInBJo5Ii pic.twitter.com/mJ9ibMbY9W
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) April 25, 2022
This is mostly owing to the cost reality of constructing a fresh new tank, as well as the research and development required to make it perform as intended. As a result, the T-90M, created by Uralvagonzavod, is a major upgrade to the T-90 tank series, which was originally launched in the 1990s as a direct transmission of the T-72. The T-90M is the successor of the T-90MS Proryv-2 (Breakthrough 2), a 2011 update to the export-focused T-90S version.
The tank’s destruction demonstrates Moscow’s willingness to use such high-tech equipment in combat. This comes as Russia concentrates more of its soldiers in Ukraine’s east in order to maintain influence over the eastern Donbas area. In April, reports surfaced that Russia had deployed some of its supply of T-90M tanks for fighting. The National Guard of Russia (Rosgvardia) produced video footage on April 25 that has now gone viral on social media, revealing a clumsily camouflaged T-90M tank in Kharkiv Oblast.
