The New York Times: Drones remained the biggest threat to heavy weapons.

Nearly two-thirds of the M1 Abrams tanks provided by the United States to Ukraine have been taken out of action, according to a New York Times report.

Senior Ukrainian officials told the publication that 19 out of the 31 tanks have been damaged, destroyed, or captured by Russian forces. Many of them were disabled using drones, which remain the biggest threat to heavy weapons. Almost all the remaining tanks have been pulled back from the front lines.

More to read:
Allowing Russia to win the war would cost the U.S. seven times more than helping Ukraine

Ukraine had requested Abrams tanks from the U.S. in the first weeks of the war, but Washington only officially approved their delivery in the summer of 2023.

A batch of 31 tanks was handed over in the fall of that year.

The first report of a damaged Abrams tank by Russian forces came in February 2024—five months after the deliveries began.

Among main battle tanks from the West, Ukraine also uses German Leopard-2, Polish Twardy, and British Challenger-2. However, its tank arsenal mostly counts Soviet-era T-64, T-72, T-80 and recently captured Russian tanks T-90.

More to read:
Zelenski: Give back Ukraine nuclear weapons or grant it NATO membership

As of February 2024, Ukraine maintained an active tank fleet of approximately 1,000 units, comparable to its pre-invasion numbers, according to Forbes estimates.

This resilience is attributed to a combination of domestic production, refurbishment programs, battlefield captures, and substantial international military aid.

***
NewsCafe is an independent outlet. Our sources of income amount to ads and subscriptions. You can support us via PayPal: office[at]rudeana.com or https://paypal.me/newscafeeu, or https://buymeacoffee.com/newscafe - any amount is welcome. You may also want to like or share our story, that would help us too.