THIS is the heartstopping moment a Russian tank is blown to pieces after being blasted by Ukraine’s killer Switchblade drone in Putin’s latest battlefield blow.
Dramatic footage shows the commander of the T-90M Proryv turning just seconds before the explosion that sparked a huge mushroom cloud.
Moscow has reportedly lost at least 117 T-90M tanks – dubbed “Breakthrough” – said to be one of the most advanced tanks in the world.
The latest loss came when the tank was wiped out by Ukraine‘s deadly Switchblade kamikaze drone – also known as Flying Javelin.
The video shows the unaware commander positioned above the hatch, observing the surrounding area.
He appears to be turning his head and realising he is about to be struck by the drone a few seconds before a massive explosion.
The blast sparked a huge fiery mushroom cloud while thick black smoke can be seen billowing in the air.
More than 100 Russian T-90M tanks have been destroyed, damaged, or abandoned.
The sophisticated Switchblade 600 drones – nicknamed “flying shotguns” weigh 50lb and can fly 25 miles and “loiter” above a target for 40 minutes before striking them at 115mph.
The drone – which is operated by a tablet device and can be pre-programmed – have special armour-piercing warheads that can shred a tank to pieces.
The Switchblades make prime killing tools as not only they’re deadly – they don’t require a lot of training.
They can be carried in a backpack with a portable tube launcher and take as little as 10 minutes to set up.
The Switchblade 600 can abort a strike seconds before hitting a target.
Meanwhile, Ukraine‘s air defences downed 36 of 89 Russian drones launched overnight, the Ukrainian military said today.
The military said on Telegram it had lost track of 48 drones, and another five had left the territory of Ukraine to Russia and Belarus.
Officials in Kyiv said a Russian drone attack on the capital left three people injured.
Falling debris from a destroyed drone damaged a non-residential building in Kyiv‘s Dniprovskyi district, mayor Vitali Klitschko said on his Telegram messaging channel.
Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said that air defence units were operating in the city after midnight.
The strikes come after Russia launched a record number of drones targeting Ukraine on Tuesday, cutting power to much of the western region of Ternopil and damaging residential buildings in the Kyiv region.