Putin's 'Best in the World' Tank Losses Reach Grim Milestone

The losses of the Russian tank which Vladimir Putin has boasted as being "the best in the world" have reached three figures in his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to a tally by an open-source intelligence website.

The T-90M "Proryv" (Breakthrough) tank is considered Russia's most advanced vehicle in the T-90 family and the upgrade from the widely used T-72 is considered the main competitor to the U.S. Army's M1 Abrams tanks supplied by Washington to Kyiv.

Russian media have hailed the T-90M's features which include a more powerful engine, an upgraded turret and a multichannel sight for night operations.

First entering service in 2020, Russian media reported in January 2023 that tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod had delivered a new batch of upgraded T-90Ms to Russian troops for use on the frontline in Ukraine.

In June 2023, Putin told journalists that "modern tanks are needed" for warfare and that "now we can say that the T-90 is the best tank in the world—once it's in position, that's it," Tass reported.

However, the hi-spec features of the tank have not made it immune to the overall large losses of military equipment Russia has faced in Ukraine, according to the Dutch war tracker Oryx.

As of Tuesday, its tally, which counts destroyed or captured Russian equipment based on video or still images, put losses of the tank at 100 since the start of the war on February 24, 2022.

This is three more than the 97 which it listed in three previous updates on June 24, June 17 and June 15, although it is not clear when the latest three tanks were added.

Because photo or video evidence is needed, Oryx said that "the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here" suggesting that more T-90Ms may have also been lost in combat but not recorded.

Newsweek has emailed the Russian defense ministry for comment.

In January 2024, Ukraine's defense ministry posted footage on X of what it said was a U.S.-made Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle overwhelming a Russian T-90M tank.

Overall in the war, Oryx said Russia had lost 3,235 tanks, 2,199 of which had been destroyed, 156 had been damaged, 362 abandoned and 518 captured.

Ukrainian defense ministry estimates of Russian tank losses is higher, and as of Tuesday the tally stood at 8,227, following the loss of 13 tanks the previous day.

Ukraine's highest daily total of Russian tank losses was 44 on October 3, although it does not break this number down into categories of the vehicles and the Ukrainian defense ministry says its calculation is "very approximate."

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