Kiev received the first shipment of American tanks. Nine months after Joe Biden’s announcement to release the delivery of German Leopards in January, the first batch of Abrams M1 tanks has arrived in Ukraine. The Resistance would have received less than half of the 31 promised by the United States, but the Pentagon has confirmed that deliveries will be gradual and completed in the coming weeks, perhaps months.
The delivery was decided in January when Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for tanks and Berlin refused to give the Allies the OK for the German-made Leopard tanks: Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who neither wanted to be the first nor the only one, wanted to take the step . Therefore, while the pressure to send tanks in Europe was increasing – the “Free the Leopard” movement was born in Finland – Biden’s move, together with the sending of the British Challengers, had released the supply of Germany and other European countries with the aim of two battalions with a total of around 70 tanks. However, it seemed like the Abrams wouldn’t arrive on the field for another year, maybe two.
Instead, the first examples can be used in the final stages of the counteroffensive to try to regain territory before the mud “freezes” the duelists’ positions. However, the American tanks would have to be used “targeted” in “very specific and well-planned” operations, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov told the War Zone website in recent days, in order not to risk losing them . That’s why U.S. Army officials say it may be some time before they’re actually seen on the ground: First, the resistance needs to make sure it has enough support elements, and then it needs to decide where to station them .
The news of the last few hours that the Ukrainians’ fatal blow in Sevastopol confirmed the effectiveness of the resistance could definitely prompt NATO to send further military aid. And on the path already marked by the Abrams, the American steps could also be followed by the German ones: so who knows whether the arrival of the Atacms long-range missiles will serve to unlock the German Taurus cruise ships, which are more sophisticated than the British one Storm? “Shadows and the French Scalps”, which Berlin had not yet decided on a week ago.