The first American Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine, Ukraine announced. On Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed this "good news", where moment when his army tries to take advantage of the last weeks of good weather before the cold season. “Abrams are already in Ukraine and are preparing to reinforce our brigades,” Mr. Zelensky said on Telegram without specifying how many of these vehicles have been supplied. He declared himself “grateful to the allies for fulfilled promises”. The delivery of these powerful tanks to Kiev was announced last week by Joe Biden during a visit to the White House by Mr. Zelensky, in search for additional support in the midst of the Ukrainian counter-offensive to liberate the territories occupied by Russia. “Next week, the first American Abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine,” Mr. Biden said at the time. The United States had promised a total of 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, equipped with 120 mm depleted uranium munitions. Abrams © AFP – Patricio ARANA, Sabrina BLANCHARD These munitions can pierce armor but are also controversial due to the toxic risks for the military and the population. These first tanks were supplied to Kiev “months ahead” of the initial schedule, the American newspaper the New York Times said on Monday, while the Ukrainian army is engaged in a race against time to the approach of an expected slowdown in these operations in the coming months due to deteriorating weather. – Two deaths in Odessa – Supported by Western arms deliveries, Ukraine launched a vast counter-offensive in the South and East at the beginning of June to repel Russian forces. An industrial zone damaged after a Russian attack, September 25, 2023 in Ukraine © AFP – Oleksandr GIMANOV If this operation has long been hampered by the powerful lines fortified by Moscow and has so far only allowed the retaking of a handful of devastated villages, it seems to be accelerating in recent weeks. The Ukrainian forces thus claim to have managed to reach the first Russian lines on the Southern front and regain ground in the East. Earlier in the day, Ukrainian authorities also announced the death of two civilians in a “massive” Russian attack on Odessa, a major Black Sea port, three days after an unprecedented Ukrainian strike against the headquarters of the Russian fleet. from the Black Sea to Sevastopol, in annexed Crimea. Two people were found dead in a grain warehouse in Odessa, according to a new report announced on Telegram by the governor regional Oleg Kiper, who initially reported an injured person. An industrial zone damaged after a Russian attack, September 25, 2023 in Ukraine © AFP – Oleksandr GIMANOV Combat drones, supersonic Oryx missiles and Kalibr missiles were involved in this attack, according to the Ukrainians, who claim to have shot down most of them. < p>The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, said it had carried out a massive “strike” against centers hosting “foreign mercenaries” and those training “sabotage groups” from Kiev. Also in the South, two septuagenarians died in the morning in a Russian air attack in Beryslav, the Kherson region (south), according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. – Russian commander killed, according to Kiev – Ukrainian special forces also claimed on Monday to have killed the commander of the Russian Black Sea fleet by striking his headquarters in Sevastopol, in annexed Crimea. Satellite image released on September 23, 2023 by Planet Labs PBC showing an aerial view of the city of Sevastopol after a missile attack on the headquarters of the Moscow Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, on September 22, 2023 © Planet Labs PBC – Handout “Thirty-four officers including the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet died” and “105 other occupants were injured” following the strike, special forces said on Telegram, without providing any proof. AFP is unable to verify these claims, while Moscow almost never reports its losses in Ukraine, even when it comes to senior officials. Russia reported Friday that only one soldier was missing after the attack which heavily damaged the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. This attack illustrates the difficulties of Russian anti-aircraft defense in countering regular strikes on this Ukrainian peninsula, annexed in 2014 by Russia and which is an important logistical node for the Moscow troops. Ukraine: positions of military forces as of September 25 © AFP – Sabrina BLANCHARD, Sophie RAMIS, Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA The Russian Defense Ministry also said on Telegram on Monday that four Ukrainian drones had been destroyed over the annexed Crimean peninsula and the northwest Black Sea. Two other drones were shot down over the Kursk region, according to the same source. In the neighboring region of Bryansk, just to the north, Governor Alexandre Bogomaz counted three Ukrainian aerial drones shot down, without reporting any casualties or damage. All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. © (2023) Agence France-Presse
By Teilor Stone
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116