Aerial footage posted to Twitter on Sunday from the Defense of Ukraine shows a Russian tank being obliterated by Ukrainian troops on the battlefield.
In the video, a tank is visibly on fire with smoke coming out of its top. Nearly 25 seconds into the video, the tank then explodes.
“The list of things you can watch forever has been officially extended. Number 4 is russian tanks being exploded,” the Defense of Ukraine tweeted, who added that the video was taken by the 72nd Mechanized Brigade. The video has been viewed over 70,000 times as of Sunday afternoon.
Sunday’s video comes more than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Although Putin initially hoped for a quick victory over Kyiv, which has a smaller military than Russia, Ukraine responded with a stronger-than- anticipated defense effort that has been bolstered by Western military aid, blunting Putin’s forces.
Meanwhile, similar posts last week showed Russian tanks getting demolished by Ukrainian forces. One video posted to Twitter on Tuesday, reportedly showed five Russian tanks being blown up on the battlefield.
“American weapon in Ukrainian hands works wonders,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense (MOD) said at the time.
In addition, Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, Oleskii Reznikov, took to Twitter last month to discuss Ukraine’s precision in demolishing Russian tanks and spoke about them being placed in city centers as a “symbol.”
“Russian tanks, which have been destroyed by [Ukrainian] soldiers, are being exhibited in Riga, Tallinn, and Vilnius. It’s a symbol: more destroyed [Russian] tanks – less threats to Europe. I thank my colleagues Inara Murniece, Hanna Pevkur, Arvydas Anusauskas for their sincere support and effective cooperation,” hey tweeted.
Meanwhile, Reznikov’s Estonian counterpart, Hanno Pevkur, also commented last month on the display of broken Russian tanks, and tweeted: “Every Russian tank destroyed in Ukraine is one Russian tank less behind Estonian border. We’ll continue our support to Ukraine with more News to come soon!”
Pevkur has repeatedly outlined the need for international support for Ukraine who “are fighting not only for themselves, but for the free world.”
“It is our job to explain why we support and should continue to support Ukraine, because this is our war too, it is a war for a rules-based world,” he said in an interview last November. Estonia shares a border with Russia along the eastern side of the country.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Sunday, the total number of Russian tanks lost from February 24 to March 5 is 3,414. The General Staff also said that the number of Russian personnel lost due to Putin’s invasion climbed to 153,120 people. Newsweek could not independently verify these numbers, however.
Rajan Menon, the director for the Grand Strategy Program at Defense Priorities, told Newsweek on Sunday, “Even official Ukrainian statements about the artillery exchange ratio between Russia and Ukraine point to the massive Russian advantage, so there’s no sign that Russia is facing a shortage yet or will anytime soon.”
Menon added: “On the other hand, Ukraine has made urgent request for the West to send more artillery shells urgently. As for armor, Russia losses have indeed been very high. What we don’t have a good fix on however is long it will take before shortfalls begin to manifest themselves and how much Western armor Ukraine will receive and when.”
On Friday, President Joe Biden announced another aid package for Ukraine that is valued up to $400 million. Included in the package will be more ammunition and support equipment for Ukraine’s precision fires, artillery, and armored vehicle operations, according to the Department of Defense (DOD).
In total, Biden has sent more than $32 billion in aid to Ukraine amid Russian’s full-scale invasion.
Update 3/5/2023, 3:16 pm ET: This article has been updated with comment from Rajan Menon.
Aerial footage posted to Twitter on Sunday from the Defense of Ukraine shows a Russian tank being obliterated by Ukrainian troops on the battlefield.
