need to point out here. these tanks are not going to arrive anytime soon. they are still in the procurement process meaning they have to be built or refurbished from other tanks, which will take months. the ukrainians have to be trained. you asked what kind of difference they can make. it s not the difference that the abrams can make. it s a recognition that ukraine needs tanks for the upcoming battle. if you look at what the situation on the ground right now, russia is running very low on precision guide munitions, artillery, some of the things they have been using for longer range fights. there s a natural progression that the next phase is more of a tank battle. the sides are dug in, particularly the russian defenses, and the way to breakthrough that is with armor and recognized units like the
with the survivors and community leaders. turning now to the war in ukraine, the u.s. and germany who for months had been reluctant to arm ukraine with advanced battle tanks agreed today to do exactly that. the u.s. will send a battalion of m 1 abrams tanks, a total of 31, while germany approved an initial shipment of 14 of its top of the line leopard 2 tanks with the promise with more to come, but will it be enough. here is debora patta inside ukraine. reporter: a tank battle on the eastern frontline, ukrainian troops firing from machines dating back to soviet times. kyiv is hoping the wasted battle tanks pledged today would allow ukrainian forces to punch through russian lines and retake territory. but president biden said sending the 31 abrams tanks could take month skill ithkranfces.
are gas guzz ling tank, they are very difficult to maintain on a battlefield. but you know, in addition to that, to that, the coming battle is a tank battle. and even though these abrams tanks are months, many months from actually arriving on the battlefield there, the hope by the biden administration is that by making this announcement, it is going to open a flood gate of other countries that will provide tanks as well. we have seen the 14 in germany get announced and others have leonards and they are quicker to maintain and train on and logistically, and there are other countries that have abrams as well. the hope is with this announcement as well today, other allies will follow suit and ultimately ukraine will get to the 200, 300, 350 tanks that they need for this coming counter offensive. thank you very much for joining us and starting us on this story. with me now is the president of the council on foreign relations, and author of the new book the bill of obligations, the te
how does that fit into the broader picture in ukraine? we don t know how many tanks exactly russia and ukraine are using. we don t trust their numbers. we know or have a good sense of how many have been lost since the start of the war. these are numbers compiled and they base this on open source, only when they can confirm via video seeing tanks destroyed and close to 500 ukrainian tanks, that s close to 2,000 lost gives you a sense how many are on the battle field and compare 59, perhaps up to 100 over the next several months as the president granted there. it will take time to get them in there. the math doesn t add up in terms of leveling the playing field between what russia has and ukraine has. here is one more point. when i speak to u.s. military officials, there is a school of thought among u.s. officials that ukraine is not ideally equipped for a big tank battle. it s much better equipped for
footage of a recent tank battle here, firing on the move. from a hillside in bakhmut, we watch more ukrainian tanks in action. they call this section of the front line a savage artillery war that has raged for months with precious little progress on either side, but ukrainians here insist that s about to change. if, that is, they get western tanks here soon. if you are going to counterattack and sees more territory, then you need tanks, need mobile artillery. it would be very useful for counterattacking because infantry covered by tanks, for sure. without them, these front lines