US Soldiers assigned to 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, offload U.S. M1A1 Abrams tanks needed for training the Armed Forces of Ukraine at Grafenwoehr, Germany, May 14, 2023. US Army photo by Spc. Christian Carrillo

Ukrainian soldiers have reached the end of their planned training on American M1 Abrams tanks in Germany.

But Kyiv requested that its troops stay there to continue the program until the tanks are ready for delivery.

US officials have said that the 31 tanks of the M1A1 variant will be sent to Ukraine this fall.

Ukrainian soldiers training on American M1 Abrams tanks in Germany have reached the end of their planned training program, but Kyiv wants them to stay there until the heavy armor is ready for delivery, a US Army official told Insider on Friday.

Around 200 Ukrainians "just completed one of the last phases of their 12-week training program, a combined arms, battalion force-on-force exercise at Hohenfels Training Area," said Col. Martin O'Donnell, a spokesperson for US Army Europe and Africa, in a statement. The soldiers will now head back to the Grafenwoehr Training Area, where they trained previously

"There, at the request of Ukraine, the soldiers will maintain their operator and maintenance proficiency until the 31 tanks the US has committed to refurbish and to deliver to Ukraine by the fall are ready," O'Donnell added. The training is expected to last for weeks and stretch into fall.

Facing international pressure to outfit Ukraine with heavy armor, the Biden administration said earlier this year that it would procure new M1A2 Abrams tanks for Kyiv's military to complement pledges from other NATO allies like Germany and the UK that offered their own main battle tanks. The US later announced that it would send older, refurbished M1A1 variants to Ukraine instead, as these tanks were already in Pentagon stocks and could be delivered sooner.

US M1A1 Abrams tanks needed for training the Armed Forces of Ukraine arrive by rail at Grafenwoehr, Germany, May 14, 2023. US Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Tylon Chapman

Training the Ukrainians to operate and maintain the tanks — initially a three-month-long effort led by the US military — represents "just one piece" of a global effort to help Ukraine defend against Russia, O'Donnell said, adding that Washington and its partners have trained over 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers since the full-scale war began in February 2022. Stars and Stripes first reported Ukraine's request to keep its soldiers in Germany for further training.

While US officials have routinely asserted that the Abrams tanks would make their way to the battlefield this fall, an exact timeline remains unclear.

"We're confident that we can provide those tanks when we said we would, which would be before the end of this year. And by all accounts, the training has gone well for those tank crews, but certainly at the appropriate time, we'll provide updates, in terms of delivery," Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters this week. He declined to provide additional details, citing operational security concerns.

The planned delivery of Abrams tanks could come at a crucial time for Ukraine, which is currently entangled in counteroffensive operations along several directions in the eastern and southern parts of the country and may still be attempting offensive operations come fall. Formidable Russian defensive lines — consisting of minefields, trenches, razor wire, and anti-armor obstacles — have slowed Ukrainian advances.

US soldiers and an M1 Abrams tank in a wooded area during a multinational exercise at the Hohenfels training area in Germany. Nicolas Armer/Getty Images

Abrams tanks will complement Ukraine's expanding inventory of armored vehicles that it has accumulated from the US and its NATO partners over the last few months. American officials, meanwhile, have suggested that the Abrams tanks are expected to give Kyiv a significant firepower boost on the battlefield.

"The Abrams will certainly make a difference on the battlefield. I mean, we know it's an extraordinary tank," Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims II, director of operations for the US military's Joint Staff, told reporters at a briefing last month adding that the training will make the Ukrainians "extraordinarily good" at using the tanks.

"I can't tell you whether the offensive would still be going on by then or not, I just know that when the Abrams arrive, they'll be able to make a difference with Ukrainians," Sims said.

The Abrams tanks the US plans to deliver to Ukraine are part of more than $43 billion in security assistance that the US has committed to Ukraine since Russia invaded last year. But as the war nears the 18-month mark, Kyiv continues to pressure its Western military partners to send additional weapon systems like fighter aircraft and long-range missiles.

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