Washington has given too few tanks to Kiev, prompting Moscow’s forces to hunt them down to get bonus payments, the serviceman has said
FILE PHOTO: A US M1 Abrams tank © Sputnik
The Russian troops have seemingly recorded a video, where one of them mockingly thanked US President Joe Biden for supplying Kiev with Abrams tanks and giving Moscow’s forces an opportunity to earn some extra money by destroying them. Footage came amid reports about several such US-made heavy armor pieces being destroyed in less than a week.
A short clip that surfaced on social media featured an apparent Russian serviceman wearing full military gear, a helmet and a mask. “We, Russian warriors express our sincere gratitude to you for the Abrams tanks that the US is supplying to Ukraine,” the soldier can be heard saying on the video, addressing the American president in English.
The man then goes on to explain that Russian troops are offered bonuses for each destroyed piece of Western equipment and asks Biden “to send more” Abrams tanks, as those that did arrive in Ukraine “are very few” and the Russian forces have to spend a lot of time just hunting down for them.
The US initially announced the delivery of 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine in January 2023, the shipment did not arrive until the autumn, and the vehicles were absent from the front line until February.
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The soldier also said that there were certainly not enough American tanks in Ukraine for every Russian serviceman to get their well-deserved bonus and offered Biden a 10% commission from every payment a Russian soldier gets by destroying the US-made heavy armor. He also suggested Biden get himself a Russian ‘MIR’ debit card to make it easier for the soldiers to send him money.
The video ends with the serviceman mockingly praising Biden as “a true patriot and the best US president as well as expressing his hope for “a mutually beneficial partnership.” “Together, we will win!” he adds.
Earlier on Sunday, the Russian journalists reported that an Abrams tank and a US-made mine-clearance vehicle based on an Abrams chassis were destroyed in Donbass. Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the destruction of the first US-made heavy armor in the Ukraine conflict.
