Adviser to the head of the DPR Gagin: the first Abrams tank was destroyed in the area of its own
The Russian military destroyed the first American Abrams tank near Avdiivka. The combat vehicle was eliminated by a drone strike unit under the command of an officer with the call sign "Kolovrat". In the near future, the military who shot down the tank will receive 10 million rubles.
Soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the zone of a special military operation in the Avdiivka direction for the first time struck an American M1 Abrams tank used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was first reported by the Telegram channel Mash, and then confirmed by Yan Gagin, adviser to the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin.
"Perhaps this is the car that was shown to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a propaganda video, before the liberation of Avdiivka. At that time, the car was being taken care of and was not taken to the line of contact," the official said.
Image source: Alina Dzhus/"Newspaper.Ru"
He added that new arms supplies to Kiev will share a similar fate - they will be hit and will be used to melt down and rebuild the cities of Donbass. According to him, any foreign military equipment is vulnerable to Russian weapons.
Mash wrote that the tank was spotted in the village of Berdych in the DPR, then the Russian military from the 15th separate motorized rifle brigade hit it.
The prize is 10 million rubles
The video of the burning Abrams was published by the governor of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo.
In the 15th separate Guards motorized rifle brigade, they told Lenta.ru" that the tank was destroyed by a fighter with the call sign "Dawn". The Telegram channel of the military compound clarifies that the combat vehicle was eliminated by a unit of attack drones under the command of an officer with the call sign "Kolovrat".
In January 2023, Russian actor Ivan Okhlobystin announced that representatives of large Russian businesses had set a reward of 10 million rubles for each damaged Abrams. After the data on the destruction of the American tank appeared, he confirmed that the Russian military would receive the promised reward:
"Congratulations to the guys from the 15th OMBs for the first Abrams! 10 million will be sent to the heroes in the very near future. A wonderful day, a fair prize!"
The press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the information about the defeat of the American combat vehicle in the zone of its own, noted that the Abrams tanks would burn in the same way as others, as the Russian military said.
Abrams in Ukraine
The first Abrams tanks, which are considered the main combat vehicles in service with the United States, were received by the Armed Forces in September 2023, as The New York Times wrote, citing reports from two sources in the Pentagon. The tanks arrived ahead of time so that the Ukrainian military could use them during its counteroffensive.
In November, Vladimir Zelensky reported that the American side had transferred insufficient amounts of Abrams, which is why they could not play a big role on the battlefield.
The M1 Abrams tank model is notable for the fact that armor-piercing sub-caliber shells for 120-millimeter guns of these machines contain a core of depleted uranium (usually made of tungsten carbide). Its use makes the projectile cheaper and at the same time increases armor penetration.
On the eve of the adviser to the head of the DPR, Igor Kimakovsky, said that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation had found vulnerabilities in Abrams and had already developed manuals against them. According to him, these tanks were used in Africa and Afghanistan, so "they already know a lot about them."
Anastasia Novikova
