PressTV

Syrian terrorist groups have released a video that purports to show them targeting a Russian T-90 tank with a US-made TOW anti-tank missile.

According to the video’s caption, the strike took place in the northwestern suburbs of Syria’s Aleppo, the Washington Post reported Friday.

The footage is significant as it captures the rare moment when the aging wire-guided missile hits one of Russia’s most advanced battle tanks.

It is yet unclear if the tank in the video was operated by a Russian or Syrian crew, but the Post noted that the T-90 tanks were first shipped to Syria in last September, when Russia started its anti-Daesh military campaign in the Arab country upon a request by Damascus.

The T-90 appears to be equipped with Shtora-- an active protection suite designed to protect the tank by disrupting wire-guided and infrared guided missiles similar to TOW. However, the system either malfunctioned or was turned off during the attack.

The missile hits the tank’s turret and the crew are seen jumping out of the tank but it looks like the strike did not penetrate the armor and potentially glanced off.

The Russian tank is covered in what is called “reactive armor,” serving as an outer shell that when it is struck, it counter-detonates to disrupt the flight of the incoming enemy missile.

In November 2015, the tanks were reportedly spotted well to the east of the coastal city of Latakia, where Russia has set up its military base.

Other reports stated that Russia has given a small detachment of T-90s to the Syrian army mechanized unit to help it with ground offensives against terrorist groups.

More recently, the advanced battle tanks were filmed by CNN on the outskirts of Raqqah, Daesh’s stronghold.