In light of the announcement that the United States will supply Ukraine with Abrams tanks comes the realization that they won’t make much of a change in the war. Ukraine seems to know that they are on the losing side of this conflict and that the delivery of the tanks may offer little more than a moral boost.

Writing on social media on Monday, Zelensky shared the “good news” from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry about the first delivery of Abrams tanks, claiming they would “strengthen our brigades.” Washington pledged in January to deliver 31 of the vehicles to Kiev, according to a report by RT. 

The Wall Street Journal, in an article titled “U.S. Abrams Tanks Reach Ukraine. Is It a Case of Too Little, Too Late?” noted that while the Abrams may have “some technical advantages” compared to other Western tanks already provided to Ukraine, the difference was not significant. Instead, their arrival “offers a morale boost to Ukrainian forces,” the newspaper claimed.

Biden Confirms U.S. Abrams Tanks Will Arrive In Ukraine Next Week

Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov warned last week that the Abrams tanks “will not live very long” unless they are deployed “in a very tailored way for very specific, well-crafted operations.” Russia agrees that the tanks won’t last long.

So far, Ukraine has been losing a lot of the equipment given to it to Russian attacks. Speaking at the United Nations Security Council earlier this month, Russian diplomat Vassily Nebenzia argued that the fate of Abrams tanks and F-16s sent to Ukraine would meet the same fate as the Western military equipment already destroyed by Russian forces, including US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, German Leopard tanks, and British Challenger tanks.

Russia Has Destroyed 1/3 Of U.S. Supplied Armored Fighting Vehicles Sent To Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky’s ruling class has previously touted deliveries of new Western military capabilities as a major achievement, including the supply of American Javelin anti-tank missiles early in the conflict and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles delivered in May. Kiev is currently focused on securing ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles and F-16 fighter jets from Washington and its allies.

Everything the West does is inflammatory to Russia, and not much of a help to Ukraine.