First batch of U.S. Abrams tanks arrive in Ukraine

SpaceWar.com reports: “The first shipment of long-awaited U.S.-made Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday night, as Kyiv seeks to use them in its slow-moving counteroffensive to expel Russian forces from its borders.

‘Good news from [Defense] Minister [Rustem] Umerov: ‘Abrams’ are already in Ukraine and are preparing to reinforce our brigades,’ Zelensky said in a statement published to Telegram. ‘I am grateful to the allies for fulfilling the agreements! We are looking for new contracts, expanding the geography of supply.’

The United States has been Ukraine’s main supplier of weaponry amid its 19-month war with Russia, during which Kyiv has increasingly called on Washington and its allies for more sophisticated and lethal equipment, including tanks.

The Biden administration was initially apprehensive to commitment the advanced weaponry on claims they are difficult machines to train to use and maintain, compared to other armored vehicles the United States has already given Kyiv.

But in January, Biden relented and promised Ukraine 31 Abrams tanks along with Germany vowing its Leopard 2 tanks…”

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