Video captures the moment a Ukrainian exploding drone destroyed one of Russia’s prized Tor-M2 missile systems designed to shoot down drones

• A video shared by Ukraine’s military appears to show a drone striking a Russian Tor-M2 missile system.

• Russia has previously touted the missile system as one of its most prized weapons.

• The Tor-M2 is a surface-to-air missile system designed to destroy airplanes, guided missiles, and drones.

A video appears shows a Ukrainian drone strike destroying a prized Russian Tor-M2 missile system.

The video, shared by Ukraine’s military on Facebook on Tuesday, shows the drone zeroing in on the target before striking and causing it to explode.

The military said it used an exploding drone in the attack, which left smoke billowing out of the damaged vehicle. It is not clear where the video was filmed.

Russia’s Tor-M2 is an all-weather short-range surface-to-air missile system designed to destroy airplanes, guided missiles, drones, and other aerial targets.

It has a range of about 7.5 miles and can simultaneously engage up to 48 processed targets and 10 tracked targets.

Russia has previously touted the missile system as one of its most prized weapons, and it was in February described as “cutting-edge” by Alexander Mikhailov, head of the Military-Political Analysis Bureau, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

Ukraine’s defense ministry noted in February that a variation of the weapon system “became the star of Russian television when it was sent to Ukraine.”

Russia has deployed several of the systems in its invasion of Ukraine. Reports have emerged of the weapons being destroyed or abandoned.

In Tuesday’s social media post, Ukraine’s military claimed that it was the fourth Tor missile system to be destroyed in March. Insider could not independently verify that claim.

At least 104 Russian surface-to-air missile systems have been lost in Ukraine since the war began, according to Oryx, an open-source intelligence analysis platform.

Correction: April 6, 2023 – An earlier version featured an image incorrectly referred to as a Russian Tor-M2 missile system. It was removed and replaced.

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