Russia warns of WWIII, US accelerates Abrams tanks deliveries to Ukraine

While the world waits for Ukraine’s counteroffensive, Russia is rattling its nuclear sabers once again. Sensing the urgency of the situation, the United States is also speeding up delivery on the Abrams tanks it promised Ukraine.

On April 25, Dmitry Medvedev, a Putin ally and the former president and prime minister of Russia, said “the world is sick and quite probably on the verge of a new world war.” He added the risks of nuclear confrontation in Ukraine were also rising.

It’s not the first time Putin or his allies threatened to use nukes in Ukraine. It likely won’t be the last.

The fighting in Ukraine is still centered around the city of Bakhmut. Russia tried for months, and failed, to take the city. Russia’s inability to make significant battlefield gains is also reportedly causing in-fighting between Russian soldiers and mercenaries from the Wagner Group.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its April 23 briefing it observed a group of Russian troops exchanging fire with Wagner forces in a shootout in Luhansk.

Russians firing on, and killing, other Russians is becoming a recurring theme in this war. Russian civilians are also at risk of friendly fire. On April 20, a Russian jet bombed an apartment building in the Russian city of Belgorod. Authorities reported two women were injured.

Ukrainians are busy preparing for their much anticipated counteroffensive. Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said there would be no announcement signaling the start counteroffensive, for obvious security reasons. There are indicators, however, which could be used to decipher the timing. For instance, it needs to stop raining first. Ukraine’s mud season is very real and makes maneuvering heavy vehicles like tanks difficult. Things typically dry out after May 1 in Ukraine.

Also, if the classified Discord documents are to be believed, Ukraine’s air defenses were set to run out of ammunition by the end of May. Ground attacks tend to go better if troops have air support.

The U.S. and other NATO allies are speeding up, and in some cases increasing, aid deliveries. Even the 31 Abrams tanks the U.S. promised Ukraine, which were originally supposed to take a year to get there, will now be in country by fall. That’s too late for the counteroffensive but could be just in time to reinforce any new positions Ukraine may occupy at that time.

Originally, the U.S. said it didn’t have enough Abrams tanks in its stockpiles to send Ukraine, so it would have to build new ones. Apparently there were enough Abrams in storage after all, though, so the U.S. will now refurbish the promised tanks instead.

General Mark Milley said the Abrams isn’t a silver bullet, but he has no doubt the greatest tank in the world will have a dramatic impact on the battlefield.

Poland is so confident in the Abrams’ ability that it ordered more than 360 of them from the U.S. As other European countries look to replenish the tanks they sent to Ukraine, it’s likely even more Abrams will be deployed to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank. Seeing an opportunity, Poland’s Prime Minister said he wants to establish an Abrams service center in his country, to maintain battle readiness for all the Abrams in Europe.

Reuters contributed to this report.