The moment Russia shot down the most modern Leopard tank

Russian soldiers fired a rocket at a Strv 122 tank, Ukraine's most modern version of the Leopard 2, causing its ammunition chamber to explode and it to burst into flames.

Video from a Russian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and posted on social media on October 30 shows the moment a Strv 122 main battle tank of the 21st Mechanized Brigade of Ukraine was hit by an anti-tank guided missile near the city of Kupyansk in Kharkiv province.

In the video, a missile believed to be a Russian Kornet model hits the rear of the Strv 122's turret, the blast triggers the shells in the chamber, causing them to burn fiercely.

However, the tank's turret was not blown off, the crew members left the vehicle and were evacuated with the help of their teammates.

The Strv 122 is the most modern version of the Leopard 2 tank in the world. The ammunition compartment on this model and other Leopard 2 vehicles is separated from the fighting compartment, helping to protect the crew's lives if the ammunition explodes.

The moment Russian soldiers set fire to a Ukrainian Leopard 2 tank — Ukrainian Strv 122 tank catches fire after being hit by a Russian missile. Video: *Telegram/Zhizn_fm*

This is the sixth Leopard 2 destroyed by Russian forces in the past week, and the first Strv 122 to be completely disabled. Western experts believe that the Ukrainian army has lost at least 12 Leopard 2 vehicles of various types since deploying them on the battlefield in June, equivalent to nearly 20% of the total vehicles provided by NATO.

"This raid was different from previous attacks. Most of the previous Leopard 2s were destroyed by mines or suicide drone attacks, but this time the Strv 122 was taken out by a Russian tank destroyer," military expert David Axe commented.

The Strv 122 was designed by Sweden to meet domestic requirements, including operations in dense forest areas and urban terrain, with outstanding defense capabilities. The Strv 122 has applied a series of improvements to overcome the shortcomings of the Leopard 2A5 variant, adding reinforced armor blocks to the front of the hull and the turret roof, similar to the Leopard 2A6EX model developed by Germany.

This makes the Strv 122 not only the most heavily armored Leopard 2A5 variant, but also offers superior protection compared to the German and Dutch domestic Leopard 2A6 models.

However, the Strv 122's upgrade packages seem to only help it withstand suicide UAVs with warheads under one kilogram, unable to deal with modern missiles like the Kornet with the ability to neutralize explosive reactive armor and penetrate armor equivalent to 1,300 mm of rolled homogeneous steel.

Location of the city of Kupyansk. Graphics: RYV — Location of the city of Kupyansk. Graphics: *RYV*

The 21st Mechanized Brigade, nicknamed the "Swedish Brigade" because it operates all of its equipment supplied by Stockholm, was deployed to the northeastern Ukrainian front in June with a force consisting of CV9040C infantry fighting vehicles, Strv 122 main battle tanks, Archer self-propelled guns and Bgbv 90 recovery vehicles.

"The Strv 122 has world-class defense capabilities, but it also has difficulty surviving heavy guided missiles. The loss of the Strv 122 would be a painful blow to the 21st Brigade, especially since they only have one tank company, instead of three companies like most Ukrainian mechanized brigades," Axe said.

Vu Anh (According to Forbes )

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