Russia loses 15 of its so-called ‘invincible’ T-90M tanks in Ukraine, GS reports
15 Russian T-90M Proryv tanks have already been destroyed in Ukraine (Photo:General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine/Facebook)
Ukraine has destroyed at least 15 of Russia’s powerful T-90M Proryv or Breakthrough main battle tanks out of an expected pre-war stock of 100, said Andriy Rudyk, a Central Scientific Research Institute of Armament and Military Equipment representative, at a briefing on March 16.
Like much of its expensive, top-of-the-line military equipment, Russia’s occupying forces have chosen to keep its T-90M tanks – the most technologically-advanced they possess – from combat actions.
They turned out to be not so "unbeatable" or "perfect" as Russia pretended, Rudyk said.
"As of today, the Russian Armed Forces have lost 15 T-90Ms in Ukraine. We are talking only about those cases that have indisputable evidence in the form of photo and video footage. It is likely that the occupiers have lost many more of them," the Military Media Center reported Rudyk as saying.
The first record of a T-90 M Breakthrough tank being destroyed was in Kharkiv Oblast on May 4, 2022. Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces eliminated the vehicle with a Carl Gustav rifle in Staryi Saltiv.
An inspection of the incapacitated tank revealed that the T-90M is "the upper limit of what the Russian military-industrial complex has been able to squeeze out of Soviet developments." According to Rudyk, Russia not only does not produce electronics for it, but also tries to conceal information about the origin of some components.
"Sometimes the situation reaches the point of absurdity — Russia simply passes it off as its own development. The much-hyped Kalyna fire control system has only Russian markings," Rudyk said.
Russian mass manufacturing of these tanks now has turned into piece-by-piece production due to the sanctions. Therefore, Russia, suffering heavy losses and trying to break through the Ukrainian defense, is forced to decommission old and "naked" T-62 and T-72 tanks.
Russia has lost 3,504 tanks since the start of the large-scale war against Ukraine, including 12 over the past 24 hours, according to the latest General Staff's update.
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