Why Western tanks find it difficult to last long on the battlefield in Ukraine

Destroyed Ukrainian tanks in the South (Photo: Reuters).

Western main battle tanks such as Leopard and Challenger were expected to help Ukraine turn around the conflict with Russia. However, 6 months since the start of the counter-offensive, Ukraine has achieved almost no breakthrough results.

Leopard tanks could not help Kiev penetrate Russian defenses.

Forbes magazine quoted analysts as saying that Ukrainian soldiers are still unable to properly and effectively operate the Leopard tanks donated by Germany. This puts Ukraine at risk of losing its entire main battle tank fleet.

According to Forbes, since the counteroffensive began in June, Ukraine has lost at least 13 of its best Leopard 2 tanks.

"What they should not do with Leopard 2 is deploy them in small groups, without infantry support, directly towards Russian positions by crossing minefields," Forbes analyzed.

"About 200 Leopard tanks will quickly disappear if Ukraine does not deploy them properly," Forbes warned.

Western countries have pledged to provide Ukraine with 85 Leopard 2 tanks. So far, Kiev has received 71. In the coming time, the West may provide an additional 195 Leopard 1 tanks.

However, Western armored forces have not been really effective on the Ukrainian battlefield.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said that Ukraine's counterattack campaign had completely failed, causing Kiev to lose more than 500 tanks and nearly 1,900 armored vehicles of various types.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/ly-do-xe-tang-phuong-tay-kho-tru-lau-tren-chien-truong-ukraine-20231111112027944.htm