Precision Drone Strike Destroys Russian Tank Through Open Hatch

Ukraine destroyed a Russian tank with a precision drone strike through the vehicle’s open hatch, according to footage posted by Kyiv’s Ministry of Defense (MoD).

The video, originally posted by Ukraine’s 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov, shows a drone slowly approaching a Russian tank hidden among trees before descending into its open hatch. The video then shows the tank in flames.

“The intelligence of the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov spotted an enemy tank in the green zone,” the Azov Brigade wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “The operator of the strike UAV company skillfully bypassed the enemy’s electronic warfare and hit the target in the turret hatch.

“Result: A completely burned-out tank of the occupiers. Even the anti-drone defense did not help. The events on the video demonstrate a complete process of destruction and objective control of the target destruction by the 12th Azov Brigade’s strike UAV company.”

Ukraine’s MoD added on X: “An open hatch of the tank is the best present for our FPV drone operators. We know how to make the best use of it.”

In a separate video shared by Ukraine’s MoD, the 25th Airborne Brigade strikes a number of enemy targets, including what appear to be tanks, transport vehicles and military equipment.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a total of 8,455 Russian tanks have been destroyed, according to Kyiv. A further five tanks were destroyed in fighting on Monday, Ukraine’s MoD reported.

Newsweek has contacted Ukraine’s MoD for comment.

The Azov Brigade rose out of the volunteer Azov Battalion, with its roots in far-right and ultra-nationalist ideology. Battalion members were on the front lines fighting pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine from 2014; the battalion’s founders were accused of having neo-Nazi sentiments.

The brigade’s current members have rejected those ties, distancing themselves from the battalion’s reputation since the outbreak of full-scale war. The brigade is now a part of Ukraine’s National Guard, and has been lauded as one of the the country’s most effective fighting forces.

Ukraine has consistently deployed drones to target high-value Russian assets that have been used to attack Kyiv’s troops since 2022.

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s SBU security service hit and damaged a Russian Mi-28 helicopter flying over Russia’s Kursk border region using a first-person view (FPV) drone. The attack appears to have been the first confirmed instance of Ukraine using an FPV drone to damage a helicopter in flight.

A Ukrainian security source told Newsweek that is was “another truly unique hit on an enemy target.”

The SBU drone struck the helicopter’s rear rotor, the security source said. It is not clear whether the drone permanently disabled the helicopter.

The Ukrainian military’s strategic communications office said it was “probably the first case in world history when a drone hit a helicopter.”