AGENCY
Moscow, Mar 4
As the White House confirms pausing US aid to Ukraine, it has been revealed that 19 of the 31 Abrams Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) supplied to Ukraine by the US have been damaged, destroyed or captured. These tanks were called ‘game changers’ that would wreak havoc on the Russians, but clearly did not.
The situation is such that 19 of the 31 highly sophisticated MBTs that arrived in 2023 have been taken out by Russian drones. The efficiency of Russian drone and artillery strikes was such that Ukraine was forced to remove the US-made armour, according to a The New York Times report on drones. In January, Ukraine even blew up one of its few surviving U.S.-made M-1 Abrams tanks, possibly to keep it from falling into Russian hands.
The first Abrams MBT arrived in September 2023. Soon after, videos began to surface showing Russia decimating the 69-ton, four-person tanks. Within a year-and-a-half, the 47th Mechanized Brigade—the sole Ukrainian user of the high-tech Abrams— lost at least 17 of the tanks. Russia even captured one tank, putting it on display in August at the Army-2024 expo held in Patriot Park just outside Moscow.
Ten months after sending the tanks, the then US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan too concluded that the vehicles were “not useful” for Ukraine’s war effort, even citing the Abrams as an example of how many American weapons did not have the desired impact in the theatre.
“When it comes to Abrams tanks, we sent Abrams tanks to Ukraine… These Abrams tank units are actually undermanned because it’s not the most useful piece of equipment for them in this fight,” he stated.
There were also reports of Ukrainians alleging that the sheer size of the tank was an issue on the front line, making them an easy target for the Russians. There were also complaints regarding US tanks’ performance, including technical issues, such as the vulnerability of electronic components to condensation.
