The tank pictured is an up-armoured model integrating Soviet Kontakt-1 explosive reactive armour and other additional protective measures added domestically.
The tank appears to have been disabled. The image’s release comes less than a week after two prior images confirmed the losses of two other M1A1 tanks in combat - the first tank near the village of Volchye in the Pokrovsk direction in the disputed Donbas region, and the second in the same region near the settlement of Berdychi.
Around a week before these, footage confirmed serious damage to another Abrams tank, which was filmed being captured and towed away by Russian forces near the strategically located town of Avdiivka alongside a Leopard 2A6 tank.
Recent images indicate that the rate at which Ukrainian forces have been losing Abrams tanks has increased significantly. This follows a period of intensive losses from late February to mid-April, with tanks first seen deployed on February 23, and the first loss confirmed three days afterwards. The vehicles were temporarily withdrawn from the frontlines in April, after which their protection levels were increased. Over 20 of the 31 Abrams tanks delivered to Ukraine are now thought to have been destroyed, disabled or captured, with most kills captured on film being achieved by guided artillery or by single use ‘kamikaze’ drones, while one was confirmed to have been achieved by a Russian T-72B3 tank after the two exchanged fire. Western media outlets’ interviews with Ukrainian personnel have highlighted their dissatisfaction with the Abrams’ performance, citing both technical issues such as vulnerability of electronic components to condensation, as well as their vulnerability to Russian fire. The sheer size of the vehicles has reportedly led them to attract particularly high quantities of fire, while their much larger profiles compared to Ukraine’s Soviet built tanks such as T-80s and T-64s make them easier to target.
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