While Germany’s Leopard 2 depends on diesel fuel which is more accessible in war-torn Ukraine.ĪLSO READ: A breakdown of military aid promised to Ukraine However, M1 Abrams tanks have large gas turbine engines that consume large amounts of kerosene, thus posing refuelling challenges, noted Politico. It has a long firing range and uses a 120mm main gun. Weighing 70 tons, the modern US-made M1A2 Abrams has a speed of up to 42 mph, reported Business Insider. “Western tanks, particularly Challenger 2, vastly overmatch Russian tanks and the old Soviet tanks that the Ukrainians have at the moment,” Bretton-Gordon told Forces News. However, experts say Western tanks are much superior to their Soviet-era counterparts. Kyiv has also captured as many as 500 tanks from Russian troops so far, says a Financial Times report. Ukraine has relied on Soviet-era T-72 tanks since Russia invaded the country in February 2022. Located between Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, the Crimean Peninsula has become a base for Russia to launch “devastating strikes”. The US has maintained that Crimea is still a part of Ukraine, says The New York Times (NYT) report. Russia controls Crimea since it “illegally” annexed it in 2014. “With tanks from the West, Ukraine could create an armoured brigade that could serve as the spearhead of a force that could break through those Russian defences down towards Mariupol,” Hodges said, adding that the purpose is to continue Crimea’s “isolation from everything else.” Retired US Army Lieutenant General Ben Hodges told NPR that Ukrainians could launch their spring counteroffensive in Crimea as they know it is a “decisive terrain”. Politico report explains that tanks could prove conclusive in Kyiv’s survival as Ukraine mulls a spring offensive against Russia.
Ukraine says Western battle tanks could provide its troops “mobile firepower” to rout Russian forces in “decisive battles” this year, as per Reuters.
Why is Ukraine seeking tanks from its Western and European allies? Why were the US and Germany hesitant in supplying the armoured vehicles previously? Let’s take a closer look. This would be another blatant provocation against the Russian Federation,” Antonov wrote on Telegram messaging app, as per France 24. “If the United States decides to supply tanks, then justifying such a step with arguments about ‘defensive weapons’ will definitely not work. Meanwhile, Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the US, has called America’s expected delivery of tanks to Ukraine “another blatant provocation”. The US and Germany’s expected approval comes amid earlier reluctance from the two nations to provide tanks to Ukraine in its war with Russia.
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