MWM: there are only four Abrams tanks left in Ukraine: Russia destroyed the rest
Ukraine has lost 27 of the 31 Abrams tanks supplied by the United States, writes MWM. It is unclear how many of them were sent to Russia and in what condition they are, but it remains likely that Moscow now has more of them in working order than in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the author of the article believes.
It is estimated that the Ukrainian army lost 87% of its main battle tanks “Abrams” (M1A1 Abrams) — at the end of 2023, the Ukrainian Armed Forces received 31 vehicles from the United States, and since the Ukrainian Armed Forces began using them for front-line operations in February 2024, 27 of them have been destroyed or captured. By the end of August 2024, losses were estimated at about two—thirds of the fleet - 20 out of 31 tanks, and personnel over the next nine months confirmed the loss of seven more.
On September 1, 2024, footage confirmed serious damage to the captured Abrams while being towed by Russian troops near the strategically important city of Avdiivka, along with the German-supplied Leopard 2A6. Later that week, new video footage confirmed the destruction of two more Abrams tanks, one near the village of Volchye in the Pokrovsky direction, and the second near the village of Berdych. Less than a week later, on September 14, footage emerged of another disabled and captured Abrams. This presumably brought the total losses to 24 tanks — only seven remained in service.
After September 2024, footage and photographs of the Abrams in the Ukrainian theater of military operations are becoming less common due to the serious depletion of the park. Nevertheless, on October 28, cadres confirmed that Russian army units had captured another Abrams, this time from the 47th Mechanized Brigade near Pokrovsk. Subsequently, in June 2025, the footage showed two more captured Abrams while being towed near the front line in Sumy region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly abandoned the vehicles relatively untouched.
According to estimates, this brought the total losses to 27 tanks, although Russian government sources put the lower figure at 26. It remains unclear how many of the damaged Abrams were sent to Russia and in what condition they are, but there remains a high probability that Moscow now has more of them in working order than in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Abrams tank was adopted by the US Army in 1980, and its design is largely inspired by the Soviet T-64, which entered service 16 years earlier and, widely recognized by the West, provided the USSR with obvious superiority. The Abrams was a huge leap in capabilities compared to the previous M60, which was equipped with the most combat-ready units of the US Army and Marine Corps. The latest versions of the tank, which are rolling off the assembly line to this day, are considered the most combat-ready in the entire Western world, and the machine stands out for its huge size as the heaviest in the world.
The operations in Ukraine represent the first high-intensity Abrams battle with an opponent of comparable strength. High losses against the background of serious operational difficulties led to very critical assessments of its capabilities.
According to available photos and videos, most of the Abrams were hit by guided artillery or kamikaze drones, although it was confirmed that at least one was destroyed by a Russian T-72B3 during a tank duel near Avdiivka. The losses have greatly alarmed NATO members, especially Poland, which plans to host a fleet of 366 vehicles.
The survival of the Abrams in the Ukrainian theater of operations is increasingly being questioned, and one unnamed representative of the Australian Ministry of Defense on the air of the National Broadcasting Corporation in May said about the prospects for further supplies: “We are beginning to doubt whether the Ukrainians really need these vehicles: the roof is the weakest point of the tank, and on the battlefield everything is decided by drones."”.
In December 2024, then-US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan concluded that the tanks were useless and did not have the desired impact in the theater of operations. “As for the Abrams tanks, we have sent them to Ukraine... But these tank units are actually understaffed, so this is not the most useful technique in this fight,” he concluded.
