Russian forces in Ukraine lost at least three T-90M Proryv tanks in one day. Putin calls these tanks “the best in the world”, but in the Donetsk region, they are dropping like flies. And, the Proryv is actually the most advanced tank in the Russian forces, so these losses have to be very painful for them.
T-90M Proryv entered service in 2016 and is technically the most modern tank Russia has. Image credit: Ramin Həmidov via Wikimedia
In terms of practical combat machines, the T-14 Armata is not a real tank. It does not exist and will certainly not appear in Ukraine, as was confirmed by the head of the manufacturer. Therefore, the T-90M Proryv is the most modern tank, which the Russians use in large numbers in Ukraine. And the defenders of Ukraine are destroying them in large numbers too.
Open-source intelligence site WarSpotting noted that the Russians lost as many as three T-90M Proryv tanks on Monday, March 4. Who knows, maybe more, but others may not have been photographed or their images may not have been published online.
Photos that appeared on the Internet show that all the destroyed T-90M Proryv tanks had anti-drone grilles, but at least two of them were destroyed with such weapons. It is not known how the third one was destroyed, but it was probably destroyed by drones too, because all these tanks were attacked on the same day of March 4 in the same village of Yapolivka in the Donetsk region.
The estimated value of one Proryv tank is 4.5 million dollars. With that in mind, Russia lost 13.5 million dollars worth of main battle tanks in one day in the small village of Yapolivka alone.
60th Brigade of Ukraine repels Russian attack on the Kreminna front. A column of Russian AFVs, including T-90M, took part in the attack. As well as a column of Chinese Desertcross 1000-3, which were apparently used to transport Russian infantry closer to the front line.… pic.twitter.com/y90mJb5KDD
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) March 4, 2024
Putin said already during this war that “T-90 Proryv is without any exaggeration the best tank in the world.” The Russian president hinted that more versions of the T-90 should appear in the future. It was a strange statement, since Russia had previously tied the future of its armoured forces to the T-14 Armata.
What happened? Why is the development of various versions of the T-72B3 and T-90 going on and the production of the T-80 is also being renewed? Nothing happened – the Armata tank does not exist.
The T-90 Proryv no longer extracts any emotion from the defenders of Ukraine. These tanks, despite having thicker armour with dynamic protection tiles, are being destroyed by FPV drones and anti-tank missiles. They are not that special in terms of engaging them.
The T-90M Proryv entered service in 2016. This tank has a smoothbore 125mm gun with modern (at least on paper) sights. There are also 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm machine guns there. Compared to other tanks used by the Russian forces, the safety of the T-90M Proryv crew is ensured by stronger, thicker armour. It is also worth noting that the T-90M has a diesel 831 kW engine, which allows the tank to accelerate to 65 km/h. It is not the fastest, but that is a normal speed for a tank.
Written by Povilas M.
Sources: Tech.wp.pl, Wikipedia