New footage appears to show a U.S.-donated M1 Abrams tank smoldering close to the front lines in eastern Ukraine, as Russia claims to have targeted a run of the heavily armored American tanks following the capture of the eastern city of Avdiivka.
Brief clips and images widely circulating on social media and among Russian military bloggers seem to show smoke and flames springing up from an Abrams tank. One video snippet appears to capture the moment a Russian-operated first-person-view strike drone hits the tank.
Russian state media reported on Sunday that Moscow’s forces had hit three Abrams tanks close to the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka in the past week. Russia “completely destroyed” one Abrams using a first-person-view drone on February 26, and has since struck two further Abrams, according to Russian state news agency Tass. The outlet did not specify the damage to the second and third tanks.
Newsweek was unable to independently verify the footage and battlefield claims. The Ukrainian military has been approached for comment.
MIKE NELSON/AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. pledged 31 M1 Abrams to Ukraine in early 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in late September 2023 that the first of the American tanks had arrived in the war-torn country.
U.S. officials had insisted the heavy M1A1 SA tanks would make a difference on the battlefield. However, experts had said that relatively few vehicles with complicated logistics were unlikely to be a game-changer several months after Kyiv kicked off its summer counteroffensive.
The 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces appear have Lost their 2nd M1A1 SA “Abrams” Main Battle Tank during Fighting to Defend the Town of Berdychi in the Donetsk Region, the Tank reportedly Struck an Anti-Tank Mine and was eventually Abandoned, with it later… pic.twitter.com/74ObbJAjxP
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 3, 2024
Vladimir Saldo, a Russian-installed official in the annexed south of Ukraine, had said on February 26 that Russian forces had destroyed an Abrams tank close to Avdiivka. Russia took control of the small city in mid-February, and Ukraine has worked to establish new defensive lines west of the key settlement.
“On the very first combat mission, the Abrams was discovered by the operators of a reconnaissance drone,” Saldo said in a post to messaging app Telegram, late last month. Russia’s Defense Ministry then reported that it had destroyed an Abrams and a U.S.-donated Bradley infantry fighting vehicle close to Avdiivka.
“From the very beginning, our fighters said that these tanks would burn like the others,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in remarks carried by Russian state media.
Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade, which has operated Bradley infantry fighting vehicles for use in fierce clashes around Avdiivka in recent months, had said last month that its fighters were using Abrams close to the city.
One open-source intelligence account, sharing footage of the burning M1 Abrams on Sunday, said the tank was abandoned near the Ukrainian village of Berdychi, close to Avdiivka.
Newsweek has reached out to Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade for comment.
Ukraine’s military said early on Monday that it had “repelled” 20 Russian attacks along the section of the front line around Avdiivka, including in Berdychi, west of the village of Stepove from which Ukraine withdrew last week. On Sunday, Moscow said it had fought off 11 Ukrainian counterattacks, including around Berdychi.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.