The war in Ukraine has had its fair share of embarrassments for the Kremlin. From the sinking of the Slava class cruiser Moskva in April to the infamous 40-mile-long Russian military convoy holdup near Kyiv seen earlier in the conflict, Moscow has had little to cheer about in terms of projecting competent military strength. The latest hit comes via visual evidence that a Russian T-90M Proryv-3 (Breakthrough-3) — a modern and rare main battle tank — has been destroyed on the battlefield by Ukrainian forces.

Shared on Twitter by The Kyiv Independent’s defense reporter Illia Ponomarenko, the image, dated May 4, shows what appears to be the remnants of a T-90M tank, still smoldering after a direct hit somewhere within Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv Oblast. Andriy Tsaplienko is seen reporting in the foreground.

News of what appears to be the first T-90M tank destroyed in Ukraine should lift the spirits of the Ukrainian forces, given its status as the most technologically advanced and capable tank within Russia’s frontline military arsenal. The initial batch of production T-90M tanks were only issued to the 2nd Guards M. I. Kalinin Taman Motor Rifle Division of the 1st Guards Tank Army in the spring of 2020, with recent estimates suggesting that only 100 or so models are currently in service in total. The much-hyped, but still not proven, T-14 Armata main battle tanks, aren’t yet ready for frontline combat and are in very short supply. This is mainly due to the financi