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The Ukrainian Army has been assessed to have lost 87 percent of its M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks, with 27 of the 31 vehicles delivered by the United States in late 2023 having been destroyed or captured since they began to be utilised for frontline operations in February 2024. By late August 2024 losses were estimated at close to two third of the fleet at 20 of the 31 tanks, with subsequent footage over the following nine months confirming the losses of seven more. On September 1 footage confirmed serious damage to an Abrams tank, which was filmed being captured and towed away by Russian forces near the strategically located town of Avdiivka alongside a German-supplied Leopard 2A6 tank. Later that week new footage confirmed the destruction of two Abrams tanks, the first near the village of Volchye in the Pokrovsk direction, and the second near the settlement of Berdychi. Less than a week later on September 14, an image confirmed that another Abrams tank had been disabled and secured. This brought total estimated losses to 24 tanks, leaving just seven in service.

With the fleet seriously depleted, footage and images of Abrams tanks in the Ukrainian theatre became increasingly scarce after September 2024. Nevertheless, on October 28 images confirmed that Russian Army units had captured a Ukrainian Army Abrams tank used by the 47th Mechanised Brigade near the city of Pokrovsk. Subsequently in June 2025, footage showed two of the Ukrainian Army’s last remaining Abrams tanks being captured and towed away by Russian Army units near the frontlines in the Sumy region, after the vehicles had been abandoned relatively intact. This brought estimated losses to 27 tanks, although Russian government sources have cited a lower figure of 26. While it remains uncertain how many of the Abrams tanks captured were subsequently taken back to Russia, and in what state some of them were in, there remains a significant possibility that Russia now has more operable Abrams tanks in its possession that the Ukrainian Army.

The Abrams tank was brought into service in the U.S. Army in 1980, with its design having been heavily influenced by that of the Soviet T-64 which had entered service 16 years prior, and had been widely acknowledged in the West to provide tremendous superiority. The Abrams provided a tremendous leap in capability over the preceding M60 that had equipped the most capable U.S. Army and Marine units. The latest variants of the Abrams in production today are considered the most capable main battle tanks in the Western world, with the vehicle standing out for its sheer size as the heaviest tank class in the world. Operations in Ukraine represent the Abrams’ first high intensity combat against a peer level state adversary, with a combination of the serious operational difficulties it has had, and the extreme losses suffered, having resulted in highly critical assessments of its capabilities.  

Most of the Abrams tanks filmed being destroyed or otherwise neutralised were targeted by guided artillery or by single use ‘kamikaze’ drones, although one was confirmed to have been destroyed by a Russian T-72B3 tank after the two exchanged fire near Avdiivka. The losses faced have caused considerable concern among NATO members, and particularly Poland which plans to field a fleet of 366 of the vehicles. With the Abrams’ survivability in the Ukrainian theatre increasingly called to question, one unnamed defence official speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in May stated that on the basis of this issue, regarding the possibility of further Abrams deliveries being made: “We are starting to doubt if the Ukrainians actually want these vehicles — the tank roof is the weakest point of the Abrams and this is a drone war.” In December 2024 U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan concluded that the tanks had proven not to be useful and did not have the desired impact in the theatre. “When it comes to Abrams tanks, we sent Abrams tanks to Ukraine… These Abrams tank units are actually undermanned because it’s not the most useful piece of equipment for them in this fight,” he stated.

Original article: militarywatchmagazine.com