Military denies media report about pulling Abrams tanks from front
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Ukraine's 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade dismissed on April 27 a news story by the Associated Press (AP), which said that Ukrainian forces withdrew U.S.-supplied Abrams tanks from the front.
"The tanks are doing a great job on the battlefield, and we are definitely not going to hide from the enemy what makes them hide. Furthermore, we will not leave our infantry without powerful fire support," the unit that operates the American tanks said on Telegram.
The AP wrote on April 25 that, according to two U.S. military officials, Ukrainian forces had pulled Abrams tanks from the front lines due to the high risk of detection by Russian drones.
According to the U.S. officials who spoke to the AP, Russian surveillance drones and hunter-killer drones have changed the situation on the ground substantially, increasing the vehicles' risk of detection.
Five of the 31 Abrams M1A1 tanks that Ukraine received in the fall of 2023 have already been lost on the battlefield, they said.
Commenting on the claims, the 47th Brigade urged their readers to trust only verified information.
"However, we will not publicly comment on for what purpose, where, or what is being transferred by the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the unit said.
The New York Times wrote back on April 20 that five Abrams tanks had been disabled over the past two months by Russian forces, while three more were moderately damaged.
The Ukrainian military has not confirmed these numbers, as it rarely comments on its own losses in the war.
