Since the beginning of 2023, the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officers have eliminated more than 500 Russian tanks that fired at and tried to break through the positions of the Defense Forces, the Ukrainian special service said.

"The Ukrainian special service methodically destroys enemy armored vehicles daily in battles on the eastern and southern fronts. Among the destroyed tanks of the aggressor country are the latest T-90 and T-90M, the cost of which is about $5 million each," SBU said in the Telegram channel on Wednesday.

The department said the occupiers primarily used this equipment as part of the so-called "armored fists" to storm Avdiivka and Bakhmut. The invaders also involved heavy armored vehicles to contain the counter-offensive operations of the Ukrainian defenders in Melitopol and Berdiansk directions.

"The effective destruction of Russian tanks on the battlefield was the result of filigree operational combat operations of SBU together with units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In order to maximize the destruction of Russian armored vehicles, a powerful arsenal of anti-tank weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles was brought in," the special service said.