NEW YORK, April 20. /TASS/. Over the last two months Russian forces have taken out five American-made M1 Abrams tanks sent to Ukraine, The New York Times (NYT) said citing sources.
The newspaper reported that at least another three Abrams tanks "have been moderately damaged" since the beginning of this year. Drone combat has "begun taking a deadly toll on one of the most powerful symbols of American military might," the newspaper said, adding that German Leopard tanks had also been targets of Russian strikes and at least 30 of them had been destroyed.
"Depending on their size and technological sophistication, the drones can cost as little as $500 — a paltry investment for taking out a $10 million Abrams tank," the NYT said.
On March 6, Peter Suciu, a columnist for the US magazine The National Interest, described Ukraine as the "graveyard of tanks" in the wake of the destruction in the conflict zone of Western armored vehicles provided to Kiev.
On April 2, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that the Ukrainian armed forced had lost more than 80,000 troops and 14,000 pieces of equipment, including over 1,200 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, since January.