Watch Russian tank crews show off their skills by drawing pictures, cutting watermelons, and dancing to Tchaikovsky

Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

• The Russian army showed off its tanks at the Army-2019 forum, according to Russian armed forces media.
• T-80 tanks danced to Tchaikovsky’s "Swan Lake" and cut fruit with a knife attached to a tank’s gun.
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The Russian Army showed off the precision of its tank crews in a bizarre demonstration over the weekend.

According to Zvezda, the media outlet of the Russian armed forces, T-80 tank crews conducted demonstrations during Army-2019 forum, held near Moscow. One tank crew had a marker attached to its main gun and, with the help of its stabilizer, drew five-sided star on an easel.

"Undeniable proof that American tank crews have been outgunned by their Russian counterparts in arts and crafts," Rob Lee, a Ph.D. student focused on Russian defense policy, joked on Twitter.

The demonstration also included a fruit-focused portion.

With a knife attached to the tank’s gun, the crew halved a watermelon, sliced through what appears to be a smaller melon, and then, as the finale, chopped an apple in half.

In a nod to the classical Russian arts, two T-80 tanks also "danced" to a piece from Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s "Swan Lake," a ballet in which a prince falls in love with a woman who is cursed to be a swan during the daytime hours.

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According to Zvevda, this exercise was intended to show off the maneuverability of the tanks as they moved in unison in a muddy field.

US forces have also done silly things, although in a less official capacity. In 2017, a Navy fighter pilot drew a penis with contrails from his jet in the sky over Washington state, a stunt for which the flier was disciplined.

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Source: Business Insider – eioanes@businessinsider.com (Ellen Ioanes)