Videos continue to circulate on social media that show the destruction of tanks and other armored vehicles in Ukraine.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have seen significant losses, as drones have been employed to target and destroy the war machines.
According to recent claims from Ukraine, the Kremlin may have lost up to 4,000 tanks – while the open-source military intelligence website Oryx, which has been tracking the losses, reported last month that Kyiv may have reached Moscow in the number of total tanks in service.
Annihilated: Powerful Russian T-80BV Destroyed by Ukrainian Drone
As of this week, Russia also had one fewer T-80BV main battle tank, as the newly shared video showed how a Ukrainian drone successfully dropped ordnance onto the vehicle.
At the end of the nearly minute-and-a-half-long clip – posted by Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) on Thursday – the tank was seen smoldering.
Land of the Dead
The incident reportedly occurred in the vicinity of Vodyane in the Donetsk Oblast.
Much of the area on the outskirts of Donetsk City has been the scene of heavy fighting since the War in Donbas began in 2014, but there have been nearly constant skirmishes and battles in recent months. Few if any of the structures remain in the largely abandoned settlements, and like much of Donetsk is essentially a land of the dead – devastated by the conflict.
Development of The T-80
The loss of a single tank isn’t significant, except that this was among one of the more modern vehicles in service, while the Russian military has also taken great strides in improving the T-80, which had been designed and manufactured in the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The T-80 was actually quite advanced for its day, and when the T-80 first entered service in 1976 it was only the second MBT to be equipped with a gas turbine engine—after the Swedish Strv 103.
With a crew of three, the T-80’s basic configuration is similar to most Russian tanks designed before the collapse of the Soviet Union including the T-72 and T-90.
The Upgrade Tanks
The T-80B variant was the first to see major improvements, and that included a new turret, laser rangefinder, and improved armor. It first entered service in 1978, and it was seven years later that the T-80BV then was introduced with additional enhancements that most notably included its reactive armor. Vast numbers of the T-80BV were in service during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Despite the large numbers produced, and the efforts to keep the ubiquitous T-80 upgraded, it was only first deployed in combat during the First Chechen War in 1994. To say it didn’t go well is a bit of an understatement, as many were destroyed in urban environments.
In fact, Russia opted not to deploy the tank in 1999’s Second Chechen War or the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. The T-80BV has proven to be better suited to open-ground warfare, but as noted in the recent video, Ukraine has become adept at targeting and destroying any tanks that don’t take precautions.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
