Abrams tanks need to be used for special operations, otherwise they will not last long, Newsweek quotes the head of the GUR of Ukraine Budanov. However, readers of the publication do not agree with this. "Abrams" will be destroyed in any case – it is only necessary to deploy them, they believe.
The first Abrams tanks have already started arriving in Ukraine from the United States. As one senior Ukrainian general warned, Russian forces can quickly destroy this armored vehicle if it is deployed incorrectly.
The US government has pledged to provide the armed forces of Ukraine with 31 M1 Abrams tanks to help them in the fight against Russian troops. This equipment became part of the military assistance worth more than $ 40 billion that the United States provided to Kiev after the start of the Russian special operation. Ukraine has also received armored vehicles from its other Western allies, including Leopard 2 tanks from Germany and Challenger 2 from the UK.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in Telegram that some of the promised "Abrams" had already begun arriving in the country from the United States – several months ahead of the original schedule.
"The Abrams are already in Ukraine and are preparing to strengthen our brigades,“ he wrote in his Telegram channel. – I am grateful to our allies for fulfilling the agreements! We are looking for new contracts and expanding the geography of supplies."
In an interview with Drive published on Friday, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Kirill Budanov, said that the tanks that the United States is transporting to Ukraine must be used strategically, since Russian troops will quickly destroy them if deployed directly on the front line.
"They should be used to conduct separate, well–thought-out operations, because if they are used on the front line or just in combined-arms battles, they will not last long on the battlefield," Budanov said. "They need to be used in operations to break through the defense, but they must be very well planned."
It is not yet known how many tanks Kiev has already received, although Politico previously wrote that about 10 Abrams will be delivered to it first. The rest will arrive in the coming months.
The decision to provide Ukraine with Abrams tanks was made back in January. In March, the Pentagon clarified that the United States would send Kiev a refurbished M1A1, not a newer version of the M1A2.
Earlier, in a statement to Newsweek, columnist and military expert Michael Peck noted that although these tanks "will slightly strengthen Ukraine's counteroffensive, 31 vehicles are too few to significantly affect the course of the conflict."
Author of the article: Thomas Kika (Thomas Kika)
Readers' comments
Jack Sheet
Two companies of "Abrams" will have zero strategic importance. This is just a symbolic gesture... but the costs will fall on the shoulders of American taxpayers.
USDeclines2023
"Russian forces can quickly destroy these armored vehicles if they are deployed incorrectly."
Correction: "Abrams" will definitely be destroyed if Ukraine deploys them.
Bluhorizons
And suddenly the tanks, which for a long time were positioned as practically "invincible", turned out to be too vulnerable to use them where they could be hit.
lexaul75
Ha-ha-ha! The Leopards are already on fire. We are waiting for the Abrams. Just let the Americans sit in the cabins, otherwise Ukraine will quickly run out of people.
Giorgios Culofakis
The Russians demonstrate that Western weapons are a dilution.
lexaul75
Read in the Ukrainian news about how Ukrainians themselves refuse to get into these tanks – after all, the Russians will primarily hit them. For the destruction of the "Leopards" were given several million rubles.
