Russia has issued a chilling warning in response to reports that the United States has sent the first batch of American M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government has been boasting that the tanks will help Ukraine’s military punch through the front lines.
However, German Leopards and UK Challenger 2 tanks have already been destroyed by Russian forces.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Ukraine’s receipt of the U.S. tanks by warning that “they too will burn.”
“All this can in no way affect the essence of the special military operation, its outcome,” Peskov explained.
“There is no panacea, no single weapon that can change the balance of power on the battlefield.”
Washington had pledged 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, beginning this year.
The first ten were reportedly transferred to Ukrainian forces as of Saturday.
More are expected to arrive this fall.
“Abrams tanks are serious weapons, but remember what the president said about other tanks made in another country,” Peskov said, according to Reuters.
He was referring to other Western tanks supplied to Kyiv, which include German-made Leopards and British Challengers, the report notes.
Earlier this month, Democrat President Joe Biden’s White House also announced it will supply a “limited” amount of long-range ATACMS missile systems to Ukraine for the first time.
The missiles have a range of up to 190 miles.
“A battlefield video circulating on social media overnight appears to show the destruction of a British Challenger 2 in Ukraine, which would be the first time one of the tanks has been destroyed in combat,” The Guardian wrote.
UK media subsequently made it clear that up to that point, no Challenger 2 tank had ever been lost in battle due to enemy forces since it entered production.
The tanks were first deployed in 1994.
The only exception was a friendly fire incident in Iraq in 2003.
Destroyed Ukrainian Challenger 2 outside of Robotyne, most likely from the 82nd Air Assault Brigade. pic.twitter.com/KInjnmfs4F
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) September 5, 2023
Very controversially, the UK has been sending depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds to Kiev.
The rounds will be fired from the Challenger II tanks.
Last Spring, the UK Defense Ministry admitted that it “does not monitor the locations from where DU rounds are fired by the AFU in Ukraine.”
