Russian Army units were confirmed on July 3 to have destroyed one of the Ukrainian Army’s remaining M1A1 Abrams tanks in the Avdiivka area, after the vehicle was located by a reconnaissance drone. “Artillery crews from the Battlegroup Centre used a Krasnopol smart munition to destroy another Abrams M1 tank in the Avdiivka area during the special military operation,” the Defence ministry reported, with the 2S19 Msta-S is a 152mm self-propelled howitzer having been responsible for making the kill. This represented one of multiple kills achieved on Abrams tanks using precision guided artillery systems, with drone footage released in early may showing that a single shot from a 2K25 Krasnopol precision-guided artillery round also destroyed one of the vehicles. Ukraine received 31 M1A1 Abrams tanks from September 2023, and after withholding them for five months the vehicles saw their first combat in late February. The first confirmed combat on the 23rd of the month was followed three days later by the confirmed destruction of the first tank, with heavy losses of multiple further vehicles following.
The Ukrainian Army in late April withdrew its remaining Abrams tanks from frontline positions due to concerns regarding their vulnerability. According to a report from CNN on May 29, Ukrainian personnel have been dissatisfied with the tanks’ performance, citing not only their technical issues, including vulnerability of electronic components to condensation, but also their vulnerability to Russian fire. A U.S. military source cited by the AP news agency observed that due to advances in Russian targeting capabilities “there isn’t open ground that you can just drive across without fear of detection,” with another source noting that “Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult” for Abrams tanks “to operate without detection or coming under attack.” Vice Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Christopher Grady provided further details on the Ukrainian Army’s decision, informing AP: “When you think about the way the fight has evolved, massed armour in an environment where unmanned aerial systems are ubiquitous can be at risk.” Alongside artillery, Abrams tanks have also taken losses to drone strikes, handheld anti tank weapons, and to the guns of T-72 tanks across multiple engagements. These losses have raised some concerns among other operators of the Abrams worldwide, and follow a similarly underwhelming performance against anti tank weapons by Iraqi Army tanks in the 2010s.