President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Ukraine had taken delivery of its first shipment of U.S. jet-powered Abrams tanks to help in the defence against Russia's invasion.
Mark Milley, the top U.S. general, has said he regards M1 Abrams tanks as the world's best and that they "will make a difference" in the 19-month-old war.
With a powerful engine, 120 mm main gun and special armour, the Abrams tank is particularly lethal against heavy armour forces.
Ukrainian tank crews training in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine said that once they were deployed, the Abrams tanks would be a big step up from the Soviet-era tanks they are currently operating.
The Kremlin said this week that U.S. supplies of military hardware such as the Abrams tanks would not change the situation on the battlefield.
Persons:
Abrams, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Mark Milley, Zelenskiy, Milley, Oleksandr, Ron Popeski, Timothy Heritage
Organizations:
Abrams, Ukrainian, Leopard, U.S, Russian, Thomson
Locations:
DONETSK, Ukraine, Kyiv, U.S, Ukrainian, Donetsk