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Ukrainian troops will be armed with what White House officials call “the best tank in the world” after President Biden announced Wednesday that Washington will provide Kyiv with 31 M1 Abrams tanks.
Ukraine has relied on Soviet-era T-72 tanks since the Russian invasion began last Feb. 24. The Russians typically employ later T-72 iterations developed in the years since Ukraine gained its independence in 1991.
US officials have not said what iteration of the M1 it will send Ukraine, though the tanks will be procured from the defense industry rather than the current stockpile – meaning they are likely to include some of the latest upgrades.
Thousands of tanks on each side have been destroyed in the 11-month-old war, though it’s unclear how many remain in play. Ukraine claims to have destroyed 3,161 Russian tanks while Russia says it’s eliminated 7,617 Ukrainian “tanks and other armored fighting vehicles,” the countries’ respective defense ministries said Wednesday.
While it could take up to a year for America’s M1s to arrive in Ukraine, the addition is expected to give the war-torn country a leg up on Russia.
The M1’s superior maneuverability will play a valuable role in traversing the vast, flat open ranges in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where the majority of fighting has been occurring since the war’s early months.
