Video Shows Russian Tank Obliterated in Ukrainian Strike

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has released a video showing a Russian tank being destroyed, with the country reporting that 3,016 Russian tanks have been lost since the start of the war.

The ministry's Twitter account shared the video on Tuesday. The footage opens with a long-distance view of a tank billowing smoke and clearly on fire, then gives a closer look in which the heavily damaged tank can be seen burning. Later in the video, several soldiers can be seen walking through a wooded area and experiencing an apparent strike of some kind. That section of the video was set to jaunty music, and the soldiers were apparently part of the Russian forces.

"Every russian tank will definitely find a Ukrainian soldier who is going to knock it out," Ukrainian Defense Ministry tweeted.

The ministry also shared its figures on Russian combat losses since the beginning of the war in February. Those numbers showed that Russia has lost 3,016 tanks to date, as well as 103,220 personnel and 6,024 armored combat vehicles, among other losses.

"I've got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end," the ministry tweeted, quoting American basketball star Larry Bird.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's foreign and defense ministries for comment.

The video showing the tank's destruction comes as the U.K. Ministry of Defense reported on Tuesday that Russia's 1st Guards Tank Army was "probably amongst the Russian forces recently deployed to Belarus."

"This formation was likely conducting training before its deployment and is unlikely to have the support units needed to make it combat-ready," the ministry said in its intelligence update on Twitter.

It continued: "Over the last 48 hours, fighting has remained focused around the Bakhmut sector of Donetsk Oblast, and near Svatove in Luhansk. Russia continues to initiate frequent small-scale assaults in these areas, although little territory has changed hands."

On December 8, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported that the "supposedly elite" 1st Guards Tank Army "took heavy casualties earlier in the war, including during the retreat from Kharkiv oblast in September 2022."

"It has now been partially reinforced with mobilized reservists, although remaining well below its authorized strength of 25,000 personnel," the ministry said.

On Monday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest assessment of the conflict that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "likely concerned" over the lack of support for the Ukraine war among members of Russia's elite.

Citing a speech Putin delivered to the Russian people on Christmas Day, in which he criticized some Russians for not acting like "true patriots," the ISW said Putin's "instant criticism of some members of society suggests that he is focused on those who do not fully support the war rather than on those who do."