© Dado Galdieri for The New York Times
© Saher Alghorra for The New York Times
© Philip Fong/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
© Loren Elliott/Reuters
Nine months after pledging 49 surplus M-1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine’s war efforts, the first batch of the American-made tanks has arrived by sea and rail in Ukraine.
Imagery the Australian defense ministry posted online on Saturday depict the 69-ton, 2000s-vintage tanks loading onto a ship. Separate imagery depicts some of the heavy combat vehicles on train cars, apparently bound for Ukraine after landing in Germany.
The tanks are a welcome addition to Ukraine’s arsenal. The country’s first consignment of 31 M-1A1s, pledged by the United States in 2023, is running low after Russian forces destroyed, captured or damaged no fewer than 22 of the vehicles.
Forty-nine fresh M-1s, supplemented by the survivors of the 31 US-donated tanks, should be enough for two battalions, which would notionally possess 31 tanks apiece. But the Aussie Abrams, which are being replaced in the Australian army by a new model of the classic tank, are arriving at a tumultuous time for Ukraine’s armor corps.
As recently as nine months ago, the Ukrainian army had five full tank brigades in its order of battle: the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 17th Tank Brigades. On paper, each brigade had three battalions of 31 tanks for a total of 93 tanks per brigade.
That made the brigades among the most powerful formations in the Ukrainian military. In reality, the 5th Tank Brigade didn’t fully form until this year. And the 1st Tank Brigade may have been the only one of the units to fight as a brigade, with all of its battalions and tanks.
When the Russian 41st Combined Arms Army barreled south from its staging areas around the Belarus-Russia border during the early days of the wider Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it quickly approached the city of Chernihiv, 60 km south of the border.
It ran into the 1st Tank Brigade lying in wait in the fields and forests surrounding Chernihiv. On paper, the 41st CAA with its 20,000 troops and hundreds of T-72 tanks vastly outmatched the 1st Tank Brigade, with its several thousand troopers and—on paper—93 T-64 tanks.
In reality, the 1st Tank Brigade held key advantages, analysts Mykhaylo Zabrodskyi, Jack Watling, Oleksandr Danylyuk and Nick Reynolds revealed in a study for the Royal United Services Institute in London. The fast autoloader in the three-person T-64 and the Ukrainian army’s superior training made the most difference in the chaotic early fights around Chernihiv.
“Better crew training combined with short-ranged engagements where their armament was competitive, and the faster autoloader on the T-64, allowed Ukrainian tank crews to achieve significant damage against surprised Russian units,” Zabrodskyi, Watling, Danylyuk and Reynolds wrote.
Stymied by the 1st Tank Brigade, the Russians were never able to capture Chernihiv, even briefly. Defeated around Kyiv, the invaders retreated from north-central Ukraine a few weeks later. That may have been the last time in the current wider war that a Ukrainian tank brigade fought with its full might.
Since then, “tank brigades have never operated as full brigade-level formations,” according to Militaryland, which tracks changes in the Ukrainian force structure. Not only has Ukraine struggled to maintain a large tank inventory after losing nearly 1,200 to Russian action, the tanks are also losing their relevance on a battlefield patrolled by tiny drones.
“The reduced time between detection and engagement, driven by real-time drone surveillance and the high velocity of [first-person-view] attack drones, has created a hostile environment for traditional armored platforms on the battlefield,” Ukrainian analysis group Frontelligence Insight explained.
Since late last year, the Ukrainian defense ministry has been gradually reorganizing its five tank brigades, reducing their tank inventories by ⅔, adding infantry fighting vehicles and transforming the units into “heavy mechanized brigades.”
Only the 4th Tank Brigade is officially still a tank brigade. But according to Militaryland, it’s already shedding tanks and adding mechanized infantry as it prepares to announce its new designation.
With every day that passes, there are fewer active tanks in the Ukrainian inventory. Between the reorganization of the tank brigades and the reshuffling of tank battalions in other brigades, Ukraine’s tank force structure could shrink by half this year—to potentially fewer than 1,000.
The tanks that remain—up-armored to give them some chance of surviving aerial attacks—now spend most of their time indoors or underground, hiding from the FPV drones that are everywhere all the time over the front line. The giant armored vehicles normally emerge only briefly to fire a few rounds at distant targets before retreating back into hiding.
Just one brigade, the Ukrainian army’s 47th Mechanized Brigade, ever operated the US-donated M-1s. It’s possible that brigade will replenish its armor battalion with ex-Aussie tanks. That would leave a second Abrams battalion that could join a different brigade or align under one of Ukraine’s new army corps.
Wherever they land, don’t expect them to play a leading role in the fighting. It’s a new “era of the cautious tank,” to quote Ukrainian-American war correspondent David Kirichenko. And that applies to those fresh Aussie Abrams.
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Australia’s Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine, but reports differ on whether this is the first batch or the majority of the 49 pledged. Sky News and The Guardian describe the shipment as the first tranche, but then noted that “the majority” has been delivered. In contrast, Reuters reports that Ukraine has received most of the pledged Australian tanks, with the rest to follow.
Australia’s retired Abrams tanks arrive in Ukraine as part of a 245 million AUD (about $160 million) military aid package promised last October. Reuters reports that Canberra has already handed over most of the previously pledged 49 M1A1 Abrams, with the rest due in the coming months. Sky News Australia, however, states this is the first arrival, noting a nine-month delay since the tanks were pledged. The Guardian, citing the Australian Associated Press, also calls it the “first tranche,” but then adds:
“A majority of the tanks have been delivered and a final tranche will arrive in the coming months, but actual numbers have not been released.“
Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles said the Abrams tanks “will make a significant contribution” to Ukraine’s effort to repel Russia’s invasion. He emphasized their role in boosting Ukrainian firepower alongside other Western-supplied equipment. The country’s Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy added, “Australia stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine.”
Australia’s Abrams tanks arrive in Ukraine alongside broader support totaling more than 1.5 billion AUD or $980 million since February 2022.
Canberra also plans to send a Wedgetail surveillance aircraft to Europe in August. The aircraft will help safeguard aid corridors delivering supplies into Ukraine. At the same time, Australia maintains export bans on alumina and aluminum ores to Russia. About 1,000 Russian individuals and entities remain under Australian sanctions.
Alongside military support, Australia is negotiating a non-binding security pact with Ukraine. More than two dozen nations have signed similar agreements with Kyiv. These arrangements focus on political and military cooperation but do not include formal defense guarantees.
A second bilateral deal aims to eliminate double taxation between the two countries. Officials expect it to encourage foreign investment in Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction.
© Lukas Coch/AAP, via Reuters
© Ingmar Nolting for The New York Times
Australia has, for the first time, imposed sanctions on Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" of oil tankers, targeting 60 vessels used to circumvent international sanctions and sustain the Kremlin's war effort in Ukraine, the Australian government said on June 18.
The move aligns Canberra with similar measures introduced by the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union.
Australia's Foreign Ministry said the sanctioned vessels operate under "deceptive practices, including flag-hopping, disabling tracking systems and operating with inadequate insurance," enabling illicit Russian oil trade that undermines international sanctions.
"Russia uses these vessels to circumvent international sanctions and sustain its illegal and immoral war against Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement.
With this move, Australia has now sanctioned more than 1,400 Russian individuals and entities since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, the government said.
The step comes amid the continued operation of Russia's shadow fleet. According to a recent study by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), Russia currently operates 435 tankers outside the control of Western regulators to evade sanctions such as the G7-EU price cap on Russian oil.
These vessels are typically un- or underinsured and pose a rising environmental risk due to their age and operational opacity.
KSE estimates that as of April 2024, 83% of Russia's crude oil and 46% of its petroleum product exports were shipped using shadow fleet tankers. The study warns that this undermines the effectiveness of Western sanctions and increases the likelihood of maritime disasters, as many of these ships fall outside international safety and insurance standards.
The EU formally adopted its 17th sanctions package against Russia in May, sanctioning nearly 200 vessels tied to the shadow fleet. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the new measures also target hybrid threats and human rights violations, with more sanctions under consideration.
Some EU member states and observers have criticized the package for lacking stronger provisions to disrupt Russia's sanction evasion schemes.
Now, the EU seeks to approve its 18th sanctions package, which will add 77 more shadow fleet vessels to comply with the cap to prevent Russia from circumventing sanctions and propose imposing a ban on imports of petroleum products made from Russian oil.
The United States has signaled reluctance to pursue additional sanctions despite Moscow's continued aggression in Ukraine and rejection of ceasefire proposals supported by Western allies.
The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir
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