Russia’s most modern and most advanced tank, the T-90M, has been seen several times during the invasion of Ukraine.

However, the tank’s advanced technology has not saved it from Ukrainian attacks. Shortly after the first T-90M was spotted in April, Ukrainian journalist Andriy Tsapliyenko posted a photo standing in front of the charred remains of one of the tanks.

The invasion was then accompanied by a stream of images of burning Russian tanks. Sometimes with the top exploding, other times it catches fire with the crew trapped inside. This was reported by an independent newspaper The Moscow Times.

Oryx, an intelligence blog that tracks Russian military losses, estimates that Russia has lost 540 tanks since the start of the offensive in February.

Classic Russian tactics

James Lewis, analyst at the Strategic and International Studies Institute in Washington DC, said Russia had been accustomed to using large tank forces in wartime situations since the Second World War.

– Russian military doctrine has always built and maintained a large number of tanks, the expert said.

The country’s tank fleet, numbering about 2,800 vehicles, consists mostly of modern Soviet tanks manned by a crew of three.

While the destruction of a tank does not mean that its crew is killed, there is also a high casualty rate among Russian tank soldiers.

Six percent of Russian deaths in Ukraine occurred among soldiers from a tank regiment, according to independent media outlet Mediazona.

The heavy losses of Russian tanks have led many observers to question whether the military vehicle even has a future in modern warfare.

– Most of us agree that Russia’s defeat is a sign of an inability to carry out joint operations, not a common problem with tanks, analysts told The Moscow Times.

Using it incorrectly

Nick Reynolds, a military expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London, claims the Russians failed because they used the ship incorrectly.

– Tanks are meant to fight as part of a combined formation. Russia didn’t do that and then it wasn’t very effective, he told The Moscow Times.

During the first days of the invasion, columns of Russian tanks jammed along Ukrainian highways. This means that the Ukrainian infantry can easily neutralize them using a variety of portable anti-tank missiles.

The loss meant that Russia had to deploy older tank models in Ukraine. Among other things, the Soviet T-62S, first used in 1961, has been observed on the battlefield.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in May that seeing these tanks was sad.