Ukrainian defense officials are zeroing in on tank deliveries from the U.S. and European partners, saying the firepower and security provided by the armored artillery vehicles will keep up the momentum in its efforts to rout invading Russian forces.
The Biden administration has increased the heavy artillery it is providing Ukraine, but has done so slowly and incrementally to protect against perceptions that Washington is provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian officials have welcomed the Biden administration’s recent announcement to supply armored vehicles with machine guns — Bradley fighting vehicles — but are pushing for Washington to commit to sending Abrams tanks.
“Bradley’s are like a sandwich, it is good when you’re hungry. But an Abrams is like a full meal, it will really leave you satisfied,” Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister of defense, told The Hill.
Ukrainian officials say an announcement by the Biden administration that it would supply tanks would send an important political signal to Putin and Russia that the U.S. and its allies are united in their support.
And it would also push back against concerns that a new Republican House majority threatens bipartisan backing for Kyiv, or that Europe’s solidarity is fracturing in the face of Moscow’s havoc, they say.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, told The Economist last month that Kyiv needs 300 tanks to achieve a decisive victory on the battlefield against Russia, along with 700 infantry fighting vehicles and 500 howitzers.
“I know that I can beat this enemy. But I need resources,” Zaluzhnyi told the Economist.
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Ukraine zeroes in on western tanks in bid to rout Russia https://t.co/Z70axL7CNN pic.twitter.com/AN6sFHbzzp
— The Hill (@thehill) January 12, 2023
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