M1 Abrams Tanks Are Being Destroyed in Ukraine by Russia

Peter Suciu

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Summary: In under a week, Ukraine witnessed the destruction of three U.S.-made M1 Abrams tanks, reportedly by Russian anti-tank guided missiles. These losses, particularly highlighted on social media, have served as a propaganda boost for Russia. The U.S. initially supplied thirty-one M1 Abrams to Ukraine, a contribution that has been critiqued as insufficient to alter the battlefield dynamics significantly. The introduction of Western tanks, including the British Challenger 2s and German Leopard 2s, has been challenged by the steep learning curve for Ukrainian crews accustomed to Soviet-based models. Amidst these developments, Ukraine's conflict zone has been labeled a "graveyard of tanks."

In less than a week, Ukraine has reportedly seen three of its U.S.-made M1 Abrams main battle tanks (MBTs) destroyed in the ongoing fighting. Videos have circulated online showing the respective destruction of the latest two tanks—including the third that was reportedly hit by an anti-tank guided missile north of the village of Berdychi.

One video shared on X—the social media platform formerly known as Twitter—purported to show an Abrams after it was struck by two ATGMs fired by units of the Russian Twenty-Fourth Separate Guards. It appeared that the crew of four was able to escape from the disabled tank. It is unclear, however, if they actually made it safely to their own lines or if the tank could be recovered.

The destruction of three M1 Abrams MBTs in less than a week has become a mini propaganda coup for the Kremlin, and another video was quickly posted to social media that showed a Russian Army soldier addressing President Joe Biden and thanking him for sending the Abrams to Ukraine.

Over a year ago, the United States committed thirty-one M1 Abrams to Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced last September that his government had received the first of the American tanks.

Too Little—Maybe Even Too Late

Last year, U.S. officials argued the heavy M1A1 MBTs could shift the battlefield balance of power in Ukraine’s favor and assist Kyiv’s offensive. However, the small number of vehicles failed to be much of a game-changer, as The Wall Street Journal remarked last September.

The MBTs arrived several months after Kyiv kicked off its summer counteroffensive and were held back until just last month.

Many armored vehicle experts had warned that a total of just thirty-one M1 Abrams was never going to be significant enough for Kyiv. The same has held true for the fourteen British-supplied Challenger 2s, as well as the German Leopard 2s that were supplied last year to Ukraine.

Beyond the fact that hundreds of tanks—not dozens—are what Ukraine required, there is the issue that Kyiv’s warfighters have decades of experience with Soviet-based MBTs. The Western-supplied tanks are vastly different, and a crash course on those platforms was never going to be enough to train the crews on how to best utilize the vehicles.

“From the very beginning, our fighters said that these tanks would burn like the others,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in remarks to Russian state media.

Russia has also lost thousands of its tanks in the fighting, and according to some reports, more tanks have been destroyed or captured than the Kremlin actually had before the fighting began when it launched its unprovoked invasion on February 22, 2022.

Ukraine has become the graveyard of tanks, and whether American military officials like to admit it, three M1 Abrams are just additional corpses. They burned like other tanks—and the thousands of other tanks before.