Putin’s prized ‘Achilles’ tank blown to smithereens by drone

The fall of Vladimir Putin’s Achilles was captured on camera in the heart of the frontline in northeastern Ukraine.

Footage shows the destruction of the Russian machinery – which appears to be one of the modified Soviet tanks.

Worth around £1 million, they operate with metal cages over the turrets in a bid to protect them from attacks.

Ivan Stupak, a former officer for Ukraine’s Security Service, told Metro.co.uk that the battle tank is most likely a T-72 model, but could also be a T-80.

A Russian T-72B3 tanks fire at Ukrainian fortified positions (Picture: Ministry of Defence of Russia/Ne)

He warned that these types of tanks typically have ‘only a few weeks of shelf life’ on the frontline during war.

A video circulated by Ukraine’s 58th Motorized Brigade, which is stationed in the Sumy Region, shows one of Kyiv’s cheap first-person view (FPV) drones targeting the tank.

The name ‘Achilles’ – a reference to the greatest of warriors in the Trojan war in Greek mythology – is written on the side in white.

Just like the Greek hero whose only point of weakness was his ‘Achilles’ heel’, the FPV drone found the machine’s vulnerability.

A Russian tank shown on the camera of an FPV drone moments before it is destroyed (Picture: 46oaembr/Instagram

Despite its armour, drones usually have success attacking an open hatch, an engine or ammunition stored in the turret.

Ukraine’s ministry of defence responded to the video with a celebratory post on X captioned: ‘The fall of the Russian Achilles.

‘Occupiers wrote the name of the ancient warrior on their tank and thought that it would become undefeated.’

The precise location of the assault is not clear, but it is understood to have taken place in the northeast where Russian forces have been pushing on with an offensive for more than a month.

Earlier this week, the ministry announced that a benchmark for the destruction of more than 1,000 enemy tanks since the beginning of the war has been passed by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

According to government estimations, this means Putin has lost more than £1 billion in tanks in Ukraine.

The largest number of armored vehicles have been destroyed in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.

An SBU statement said: ‘Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Security Service of Ukraine has destroyed 1,006 Russian tanks.

‘Using the heavy armoured equipment, the aggressor was trying to break through Ukrainian positions and provide cover for their assault groups.

‘The invaders also regularly sent tank formations to attack the defence fortifications in Zaporizhzhia region.’

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