Ukraine Continues To Eliminate Modern Russian Tanks With FPV Drones

The Russians continue to experiment with new ways of protecting their most modern tanks, but none of these innovations has so far resulted in reliable defenses against Ukrainian FPV drones. JL 

The Kyiv Post reports:

Ukrainian Special Operations Forces special forces destroyed a T-90 tank, a T-72 tank, and two vehicles. The missions are part of a series of SSO successes using drones. In a single operation, one of its units eliminated 13 Russian soldiers and disabled six pieces of equipment, including two tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles, an armored fighting vehicle, and a TOS-1A 220mm “Solntsepyok” heavy flamethrower system. All used FPV drones.

The Special Operations Forces (SSO) reported via Telegram the destruction of two Russian tanks and the elimination of five Russian soldiers with the assistance of first-person view (FPV) drones.

“Minus two tanks, vehicles, enemy personnel: a day of operation of SSO drones in the Donetsk region,” reads the caption to the released video.

 

The operation was carried out by FPV drone operators from the 8th separate regiment of the Special Ops.

During the day, the special forces destroyed a T-90 tank, a T-72 tank, and two vehicles.

The T-90 is a modern Russian main battle tank, with an export value of a T-90 going from about $2.5 to $4.3 million depending on the level of modernization.

The price of a new T-72 tank ranges from $3-4 million, depending on the configuration, while an older Soviet T-72 can cost as low as half a million dollars.

 

Additionally, five Russian soldiers were eliminated and three more were injured. A Russian dugout was also destroyed.

“Everything appearing on the horizon in the area of our unit's responsibility will become scrap and will be destroyed,” said the commander of the SSO's “Viking” group.

Explosions and the destruction of Russian tanks and vehicles are depicted throughout the video. The footage also shows Ukrainian drones targeting Russian soldiers directly, as well as their attempts to evade the strikes.

 

Russian soldiers are seen moving through the trenches, apparently aware of Ukrainian drones, in an attempt to avoid strikes. However, the video later showed Ukrainian drones hitting the Russian trenches, leading to the destruction of the dugout.

Kyiv Post analysts could not independently verify the time and location of the video. Identifying the exact types of destroyed Russian tanks from the footage is challenging due to the video quality and obscured views by fire and smoke.

Recently, Ukrainian Special Ops reportedly killed nine Russian soldiers along with an infantry fighting vehicle and an armored personnel carrier using FPV drones.

 

In March, SSO fighters reportedly decimated a Russian mortar position and five soldiers using FPV drones.

Before that, Ukrainian Special Ops reported the destruction of a dozen Russian military vehicles in the Zaporizhzhia region. The operation, led by an SSO unit, inflicted significant damage on Russian equipment using FPV drones.

The missions are part of a series of SSO successes using drones.

In a single operation, one of its units eliminated 13 Russian soldiers and disabled six pieces of equipment, including two tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles, an armored fighting vehicle, and a TOS-1A 220mm “Solntsepyok” heavy flamethrower system. All used FPV drones.