The United States is about to decide to send about 30 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. This was announced by CNN, adding that the Biden administration’s decision could be made official as early as this week. The times on the actual delivery of the tanks are not yet clear and normally it takes several months to train troops to use them effectivelyUS officials told the broadcaster, adding that a small number of recovery vehicles, tracked vehicles used for battlefield repair or removal, will also be sent.
The announcement lifts Germany’s diplomatic blockade on supplying tanks to Ukraine. Indeed, German officials had openly stated that they would only send their Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine if the United States sent the M-1 Abrams tank, a system that US officials had repeatedly claimed was overly complex and difficult to implement. to maintain.
The reaction from Moscow was immediate: The Russian military will destroy US-made M1 Abrams tanks and other NATO military equipment if they are supplied to Ukraine, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said. “Throughout the Ukrainian crisis – he said – the administration has repeatedly used the technique of publishing information in the media on the eve of significant deliveries of weapons and equipment to the Kiev regime. An analysis of the entire sequence of Washington’s actions shows that the Americans are steadily increasing the level of military assistance to their puppet government.”
“If the decision is made to transfer the M1 Abrams to Kiev, American tanks will no doubt be destroyed along with all other NATO military assets,” he continued. “Obviously, Washington is deliberately trying to inflict a strategic defeat on us.” In his words, he continues, the Washington administration is giving the “green light” to use US assistance to attack Crimea and “cover up the crimes committed by Ukrainians against the population of the Donbass, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions” .