Video posted online shows high-powered Russian tank destroyed by Ukrainian forces

A video posted to Twitter on Friday by Ukrainian internal affairs adviser Anton Gerashchenko shows a high-powered Russian T-90 tank being obliterated by Ukrainian forces on the battlefield, the latest blow to the Kremlin in its year-long, unprovoked war.

The video, which is set to Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” shows the obliteration of one of Russia’s most highly-touted and advanced pieces of military equipment, the T-90 Proryv-3 tank. The T-90 boasts upgraded armor protection, stronger gun power, and a new countermeasures system not included on previous models. The Kremlin has bragged that its Proryv-3 is the best main battle tank (MBT) in the world. 

In the video, which has been viewed over 435,000 times, Ukrainian special squad Code 9.2 along with 3027 National Guards brigade found and targeted a Russian Proryv-3 from the air, with  the tank exploding after Ukrainian air forces shot it with a Javelin  anti-tank guided missile. Gerashchenko captioned the video, “Glory to Ukrainian Defenders!”

According to Newsweek, the Ukrainian military has destroyed about 15 of the Russian Proryv-3  tanks since the beginning of the war in early 2022, and over 100 Russian tanks in total. Much of the anti-tank equipment used to target them has come from the United States and other NATO allies that have consistently provided Ukrainian forces with weapons since the war began. Republicans and Democrats in the US are currently in a continued debate over how much aid to Ukraine is enough, with the GOP leaning toward cutting or decreasing aid in the near future.