According to analysts from the American magazine Military Watch Magazine, despite continuous Western military aid, Ukraine’s tank battalions remain critically short of armored vehicles.

Citing a Ukrainian source, the publication reports that only about 20 percent of Ukraine’s tanks are currently fit for combat. In some units, just one-third — or even as little as one-fifth — of the vehicles are operational. Experts attribute this to the ineffective use of armor and the high vulnerability of tanks on the battlefield.

The Ukrainian source explained that tanks are often sent forward merely to reassure infantry that they have support — and it is during such operations, he said, that most of them are lost.

The report notes that Ukrainian tanks are being targeted almost immediately after detection, even when positioned up to ten kilometers from the front line. Once spotted, they are quickly attacked by drones.

While Kiev has received several hundred Soviet-era T-72 tanks from European countries — with Poland being the largest supplier — these deliveries have proven insufficient to offset the heavy losses suffered by the Ukrainian army.