An M1 Abrams tank belonging to the Armed Forces of Ukraine was destroyed by a loitering munition strike from the Russian Lancet system in the Sumy region, in the northeast of the country. The American-made armored vehicle, supplied as part of U.S. military aid, was camouflaged in a forested area near the village of Krasnopolye.
According to information released by Russian military sources, the vehicle’s position was identified by a reconnaissance team operating a ZALA Z-16 drone. Objective control footage confirms a direct hit and the complete destruction of the Ukrainian tank.
The strike was carried out by the ZALA Lancet reconnaissance and strike complex. The incident highlights the vulnerability of expensive and heavy battle tanks to asymmetric warfare tactics involving the intensive use of drones.
According to data compiled by military monitoring platforms such as LostArmour, more than 400 Ukrainian tanks are reported to have been neutralized by Lancet drones in the Special Military Operation zone. Among the destroyed targets are over 50 Western-supplied armored vehicles, including U.S. M1 Abrams, German Leopard 2, and British Challenger 2 tanks.
The increasing use of loitering munitions has raised concerns among military analysts about the effectiveness of traditional passive and active armor systems against the new generation of aerial threats.
