Russian Defense Ministry Confirms Fifth Abrams Tank Destroyed Near Avdeyevka

A fifth US-made Abrams tank has been destroyed in the special military operation in the vicinity of Avdeyevka, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed on Thursday.

"The enemy has lost up to 95 servicemen, three tanks, including one US-made Abrams, two infantry fighting vehicles, nine cars, as well as two US-made M777 howitzers and two D-30 guns," the ministry said.

They clarified that in the Avdeyevka region, units of Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr improved their position on the front line and repelled seven counterattacks by assault groups of the 47th, 53rd, and 59th Mechanized Brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Tonenkoye, Berdychi, and Pervomaiskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic.

Earlier in the day, Oryol region Governor Andrey Klychkov announced that members of the Special Purpose Guards Brigade had destroyed a US-made Abrams tank during an advance of Battlegroup Tsentr forces near Berdychi in the Avdeyevka area.

The video accompanying Klychkov's message shows the tank being destroyed by a drone flying towards it.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced on March 20 that four Abrams tanks had been destroyed by Russian military personnel of the Eastern Military District since the beginning of the year.

The Russian Defense Ministry also reported that Ukraine has lost more than 370 soldiers in the Donetsk vicinity and up to 145 soldiers in the South Donetsk area over the past 24 hours.

The Russian troops also "took more advantageous positions" in the Donetsk region, the ministry said.