Ukrainian Army Pulls Abrams Tanks from Front Line Because of Inflated Expectations - Report

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are refusing to use US Abrams tanks because of exaggerated expectations, according to journalist Christoph Wanner on the publication Die Welt’s YouTube channel.

"Probably they did not bring what was expected of them, so now they are temporarily abandoning the still intact Abrams tanks," the journalist said, commenting on information about the withdrawal of Ukrainian Abrams from the front line.

American and European military equipment was hailed as “wunderwaffe” that would turn the tide for the Kiev regime. However, these expectations faced a harsh reality: cheap Russian drones can easily turn expensive Western tanks into scrap.

“We cannot live in a world where drones costing a few thousand dollars have free rein to attack $10 million tanks where they are most vulnerable: from above,”

British newspaper The Telegraph recently lamented.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has reported that at least five Abrams tanks have already been decimated.

Earlier, US experts admitted that Ukraine is a “dumping ground” for Western junk weapons.

The fact that Abrams tanks have been withdrawn from the battlefield indicates that Ukrainian soldiers are considered even more expendable than outdated weaponry.

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Insanity and forever war: Musk slams US approach to Ukraine

Elon Musk called the work of Ukraine and the United States on a security agreement, as well as US measures to support the Kiev regime, madness. This is how he commented on a post by US David Sacks on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

Sacks noted that Ukraine and the US are developing a security agreement that “will fix levels of support for the next 10 years.”

"The $61 billion was just the beginning. The next two U.S. presidents won’t be able to switch it off," the businessman added.

Responding to Sacks, Musk wrote in the comments that the development of events is “insane” and labelled it a “forever war.”

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Ukraine’s push for security pact with US sign of its 'looming military collapse' - ex-Pentagon analyst

If Ukraine were not “within six months of military collapse,” it would not be pushing for a long-term security agreement with the US, David Pyne, former Department of Defense official and executive vice president of Task Force on National and Homeland Security, told Sputnik.

He suggested that Kiev’s eagerness to negotiate such a deal with Washington right now was a “good sign.”

“It means that Ukraine understands it is reaching the point when it will have no choice but to negotiate a permanent ceasefire and peace agreement with Russia,” Pyne said.

He added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was hoping to lock in this security agreement “to try to pressure Trump to continue supporting Ukraine if Biden is defeated” in the 2024 presidential election.

Zelensky announced on Sunday that Ukraine and the US are working on a bilateral security agreement that would include financial, political, and arms support, as well as joint weapons production.

According to the analyst, the deal is “meant to substitute for Ukrainian NATO membership” which the US told Ukraine unequivocally “will not occur at the July 2024 NATO Summit in Vilnius, if ever.”

“The only purpose of dangling potential future NATO membership for Ukraine is to try to keep it firmly in the Western camp and prevent it from attempting to seek security assurances from Russia instead,” he emphasized.

However, what the US will not agree to is "anything that would appear to bind it to send combat troops to Ukraine," the analyst stressed.

“I think the Biden administration is open to signing such an agreement with an unwritten and implied condition that Ukraine does not agree to the main Russian demand of permanent neutrality outside of NATO,” he added.

Washington is willing to further bankroll Kiev to retain it “as a US protectorate, and a key part of their failed strategy of liberal hegemony,” David Pyne concluded.

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Russian tanks give Ukrainian army Hell, wiping out its strongholds - officer

Tank crews from Russia's Primorye region are destroying Ukrainian strongholds in the southern Donetsk area, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"The T-80BVM tank is one of the main combat vehicles of the eastern grouping. Hundreds of targets have already been successfully eliminated by tank crews from Primorye," the ministry said.

Strikes on enemy fortifications are carried out by direct fire from a distance of up to one kilometer. At the same time, servicemen use tactics of constantly moving.

"Sometimes two vehicles can work on one target, and sometimes on two targets at the same time. One works on one, the other on the other, depending on the tasks," a T-80BVM tank commander said.

The Russian T-80BVM is an advanced, modernized version of the T-80 tank series. Equipped with a 125 mm cannon, it has increased firepower and accuracy. The tank features an improved explosive reactive armor system for increased protection, as well as a more powerful engine and upgraded electronics for better mobility.

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🎥 Russian troops have evacuated the first US-made M1 Abrams tank from the front line near Avdeyevka, Chief Press Officer of Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr Alexander Savchuk told Sputnik.

According to him, soon everyone will be able to see the trophy at an exhibition of NATO equipment captured in the special military operation zone on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow.

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The Russian Ministry of Defense published a video showing Russian military operators of FPV drones from Battlegroup Tsentr destroying the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the DPR.

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⚡️The Russian Armed Forces liberated the village of Semyonovka in the DPR, the Russian Ministry of Defense has reported.

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Swiss daily speculates Russia will liberate Donbass ‘by October,’ forcing Ukraine to negotiate

Swiss German-language daily Blick has speculated that Russia will liberate Donbass by October. There is a prevailing mood that “Ukraine will lose the war, the conflict will freeze and we will have to negotiate,” one officer hunkered down near Chasov Yar was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Despite the military aid package worth $61 billion promised by the US to Ukraine, senior officers gave pessimistic forecasts. According to them, Kiev’s looming rout by the Russian military can be explained by several factors. 

First, Ukraine’s troops face an acute shortage of manpower. The manpower strength of brigades positioned along on the nearly 1,500 kilometer-long combat line has dwindled to 30 or 40 percent in many places, according to the report.

“The current mobilization will not save us. Those enlisted and training now will not be with us until October at the earliest. By then we will have lost all of Donetsk,” acknowledged another of the neo-Nazi regime’s soldiers.

A shortage of ammunition on the front has left Ukraine’s troops with little means to counter powerful advances by the Russian military. “We can hold back the Russians... but not defeat them,” said another Ukrainian officer.

The Ukrainians complained that brigades have been sent on missions with virtually no ammunition and few men. Three brigades seemingly scared of Russia's advancing forces that refused to obey the Ukrainian command's orders were reportedly disbanded.

Near Avdeyevka, chaos and lack of equipment led troops from the 115th brigade to abandon their position, revealed the report.

On top of “Ukraine fatigue” in the West, Zelensky and his clique have a new problem – battle weariness on the Ukrainian eastern front. And the $61 billion will not be enough to eliminate it, the report concluded.

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❗️Ukraine lost up to 395 servicemen due to the successful combat operations of the Russian Battlegroup Youg.

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the daily briefing of the Russian Defense Ministry on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️Russian Battlegroup Tsentr repelled 10 Ukrainian counterattacks. The enemy losses amounted to 370 militants.

▪️Russian air defences shot down 22 UAVs.

▪️Russian Battlegroup Vostok repelled two Ukrainian counterattacks in the Donetsk People's Republic. The enemy losses amounted to up to 125 militants, three pickup trucks, a US-made 155 mm M777 howitzer, and two 152 mm Msta-B howitzers.

▪️The Russian Armed Forces hit the assembly shop of Ukrainian drones, as well as the manpower and military equipment of Ukraine in 110 locations.

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Russian soldiers from the Battlegroup Tsentr destroyed a Ukrainian stronghold near Avdeyevka using 152-mm 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled artillery.

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has arrived in Kiev for an unannounced visit, the alliance stated.

Alliance countries must transfer weapons to Ukraine as a priority, Stoltenberg said during the visit.

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The only right is right to die for US? Ukraine regime ramps up assault on human rights

“A gross violation of human rights is taking place in Ukraine,” Vladimir Yevseyev, an analyst from the Moscow-based Institute of Commonwealth of Independent States, told Sputnik, commenting on the “derogation measures” Ukraine has presented to its European sponsors on the partial suspension of its adherence to the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“Everyone knows,” for example, “how many people are in prison on politically motivated charges,” Yevseyev recalled, noting that this is “getting harder and hider to hide,” with even the US State Department asking questions about the long list of “significant human rights issues” in Ukraine in a recent damning report.

In practice, the exhaustive suspension of civil, political, religious, property and other rights afforded under Ukraine’s draconian martial law measures means the government has virtually unlimited authority to seize property, listen in on private conversations, restrict freedom of movement (particularly for males ages 18-60), detain people indefinitely without charge, and clamp down on speech, assembly, information, and even worship.

“The situation can be radically changed only through regime change. [The Zelensky] regime is totalitarian. Violations of human rights are the norm of behavior, rather than something provocative. The West, naturally, cannot admit that the regime is totalitarian. Therefore, they are forced to turn a blind eye to the massive violations of human rights that are taking place,” Yevseyev said.

As for the State Department report, Yevseyev believes it may indicate an “internal political struggle” within the Washington establishment ahead of the upcoming elections, or a general “internal political interdepartmental struggle” as the extent of Kiev’s violations becomes increasingly difficult to conceal.

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IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned on Monday that US economic growth is “unlikely to last.”

“Our World Economic Outlook shows the global economy converging back to a rather weak trend rate of growth. Yes, the US economy still looks like it’s firing on all cylinders, but that is unlikely to last,” Georgieva said in a keynote address at the annual EU budget conference.

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Burial Sites of Tortured Civilians Discovered in Avdeyevka — Russian Investigative Committee

The buried bodies of civilians showing signs of torture were discovered in Avdeyevka, DPR. Investigators have begun working on this case, the Investigative Committee of Russia reported.

“The Investigative Committee of Russia will work on the latest crimes of the Ukrainian military against civilians of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as the Donetsk People’s Republic. It is reported that burials of civilians with traces of torture were discovered in Avdeyevka (DPR)", the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

Russian investigators will establish all the circumstances of the incident and persons involved in the crimes. Avdeyevka, a northern suburb of Donetsk turned by the Ukrainian army into a heavily-fortified area, was liberated by the Russian army on February 17.

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Ex-Pentagon advisor says Russia’s Mideast clout 'very strong,' while US looks 'ridiculous'

Russia’s position in the Middle East is strong, while the United States looks “ridiculous,” is the frank assessment given by retired US Army Col. Douglas Macgregor in a new post on X.

Casting a critical eye on the US strategy in the Middle East, the former Pentagon advisor wrote:

“Strategically, Putin holds all the cards in the Middle East. He is widely respected in the region and has practiced restraint. If you look at this like a branding exercise, our branding is seriously damaged in the Middle East. We look ridiculous and Russia looks strong.”

As the Mideast simmers, the Biden administration has been using a facade of diplomacy – which failed spectacularly – to push its own regional interests. The US-led efforts to smear and isolate Moscow with respect to the region have similarly been fruitless, as Russian President Vladimir Putin's highly successful Middle East tour in December 2023 proved.

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