The US Army’s M1 Abrams tank fires during NATO military exercises in Latvia in March 2021 – Photo: REUTERS
The United States, Germany and a number of Western countries are preparing to send Ukraine dozens of modern battle tanks over the next few months, to help boost Ukraine’s military capabilities as the war nears its 12th month.
However, Russia has criticized the latest commitment by Western countries and announced that Russian forces will “wipe out” any Western tanks brought to Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that the tanks would “burn up” on the battlefield.
Most recently, Fores, a Russian company based in the Urals and specializing in the production of materials for the energy industry, announced that it will reward cash for the first Russian soldier to “capture or destroy” the Leopard 2 tank. German-made or American-made Abrams tanks, according to Reuters news agency on January 30.
The company said it will reward 5 million rubles ($72,000) for the first Russian soldier to destroy one of the aforementioned tanks and 500,000 rubles ($7,200) for all subsequent similar tank destruction.
Fores believes that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is “pumping” into Ukraine an unlimited number of weapons and escalating the conflict.
The company also offers a reward of 15 million rubles ($215,000) for the destruction of Western fighters if they are transferred to Ukraine.
By the most optimistic estimates, it will take several months for Western tanks to enter the battlefield in Ukraine in sufficient numbers to make a big difference.
In the case of the M1 Abrams tank, it could take more than a year for Ukraine to deploy this type of tank.