Ukraine forced to abandon prized U.S. tanks in Kursk retreat
Analyst David Axe described the situation of Ukrainian armed forces in the Kursk region on the Forbes portal. According to his calculations, they may have lost about 500 vehicles and artillery pieces there. Moreover, during their retreat, they often abandon valuable Western vehicles, which end up in Russian hands.
This week, the Ukrainians withdrew from Sudzha, among other places. David Axe believes that this is another consequence of the events of February 25, when the Russians managed to carry out a "devastating wave of attacks on the main supply line supporting the Ukrainian garrison in Sudzha, the center of the Ukrainian-held salient in western Russia’s Kursk Oblast." After more than seven months of fighting, they may soon completely leave the Kursk region, where they inflicted many wounds on Putin's army, but on the other hand, they themselves suffered painful losses.
Abrams and Bradley vehicles in Russian hands
"Starving for supplies and in danger of being cut off, the retreating Ukrainians moved quickly, apparently under the cover of darkness. Whatever heavy equipment they couldn’t take with them, they simply abandoned—effectively leaving them for the Russians to seize," wrote David Axe.
The analyst points, among other things, to the equipment used by the 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian army. It was this brigade that was supposed to suffer the most severe losses on Russian soil by losing American Abrams tanks and M2A2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles there. Recordings and photos published on social media confirm that some of them were captured by the Russians.
Abrams tanks fell in clashes with Russians
At the same time, David Axe reminds us that the losses related to Abrams tanks are also painful for the Ukrainian army because they received only 31 units. According to data from the creators of the Oryx blog, who document equipment losses on both sides of the ongoing war, the Ukrainians lost 19 such machines, and the statistics may look even worse after a complete withdrawal from the Kursk region.
The United States provided Abrams tanks in the M1A1 variant as part of support. They are armed with 120 mm guns and machine guns of 12.7 mm and 7.62 mm calibre. These tanks weigh about 60,000 kg, but they have engines with 1500 horsepower, allowing them to reach speeds of up to 65 km/h.
Ukraine received significantly more support in terms of M2A2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, as over 300 such vehicles made it to the front. They are equipped with a 25 mm M242 Bushmaster automatic gun with a rate of fire reaching 200 rounds per minute, as well as a 7.62 mm machine gun and a launcher for TOW anti-tank missiles. Thanks to their strong armour, they earned the title of life-saving vehicles for Ukrainian soldiers. However, they are not indestructible, as evidenced by the losses also in the Kursk region.
The portal of the French daily "Le Monde," which refers to Ukrainian observers and the lack of new reports of heavy fighting, suggests that Ukraine is withdrawing from the Kursk region under pressure from the USA.
"Could Ukraine's withdrawal from the Russian Kursk region be a condition for negotiations overseen by the United States regarding a ceasefire with Russia?" the French ponder. However, military analysts of the DeepState project have a different opinion, believing that it is still too early to assume that Ukrainians will fully withdraw from the Kursk region any day now.
