News Feed

Biden: 'Next week, the first Abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine'

1 min read
Biden: 'Next week, the first Abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine'
U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska at the White House September 21, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

U.S. President Joe Biden announced at a press conference on Sept. 21 that the first tranche of U.S. Abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine next week.

The shipment of tanks will be part of a larger package that includes ammunition, anti-tank weapons, and artillery. Biden also added that the U.S. is focused on “strengthening Ukraine’s air defense capabilities."

His comments occurred during a bilateral meeting with President Volodomyr Zelensky, who was traveling to the U.S., his second visit there since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

The decision to deliver 31 Abrams tanks was first announced in January 2022, and the first batch of 10 was approved on Aug. 7.

The tanks, which offer greater mobility and firepower than Soviet battle tanks, are expected to support Ukraine's defensive and offensive efforts.

The U.S. made Abrams tanks will join the ranks of other modern battle tanks sent by Ukraine’s allies, including the Challenger from the U.K. and the German-made Leopard tanks.

New brigade bears heavy brunt of Russia’s onslaught in Kharkiv Oblast
Editor’s Note: Soldiers in this story are stationed on the front and are identified only by their first name due to the nature of the information they are sharing. KHARKIV OBLAST – Fighting throughout Ukraine is grueling, even for hardened veterans. For inexperienced troops recently plucked from ci…
Article image
Avatar
Nate Ostiller

News Editor

Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Read more
News Feed

The Vatican confirmed that Pope Leo received Metropolitan Anthony, the senior Russian Orthodox Church cleric who chairs its department of external church relations, along with five other high-profile clerics, during a morning audience on July 26.

 (Updated:  )

Explosions rocked Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts as Russia launched waves of missiles, drones, and guided aerial bombs overnight on July 26. Kharkiv's Kyviskyi district has been hit twice by ballistic missiles.

Show More