US-made Abrams and Bradleys built for a Cold War battle with the Soviets are fighting inside Russia, Ukrainian military video shows

A Bradley fighting vehicle in service with the Ukrainian military assaults Russian positions in the Kursk region.

New combat footage posted by the Ukrainian military on Monday shows American-made tanks and armored fighting vehicles at war inside Russia.

The footage, published by Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade, captures an M1 Abrams tank and M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle assaulting Russian tree-line positions in the Kursk region.

The 47th, which operates both vehicles, said the crews “mowed down” Russian positions using anti-armor missiles and provided fire support for infantry units. It’s unclear when the mission took place.

The footage shows intense combat operations captured from a drone and a vehicle-mounted camera. At one point in the video, the Bradley can be seen deploying smokescreen flares before unloading on the Russian positions in the tree line with its powerful Bushmaster chain gun.

A legendary American duo in service with #UAarmy.
🇺🇸-made Bradley IFV and Abrams tank are performing a combat task in the Kursk region, destroying russian treeline positions.

📹: 47th Mechanized Brigade pic.twitter.com/AXbH5M49Bm

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 28, 2024
The Abrams and the Bradley were designed during the Cold War to fight against the Soviets, and now, several decades later, they’re operating on Russian soil, just with different drivers than expected when they first came online.

The M1 Abrams is a third-generation main battle tank that was first built by Chrysler Defense, now General Dynamics Land Systems. The tank was designed to give the US military an edge over the Soviet Union and, in the event of a land war, help blunt an armored assault with its heavy armor and powerful gun.

The M2 Bradley is a highly maneuverable tracked fighting vehicle and infantry transport platform that was first built by United Defense, which later became part of BAE Systems Land & Armaments; it was manufactured in response to Soviet infantry fighter vehicles and other armor and designed as a tank-killer. The Bradley was made to fight alongside the Abrams.

Both combat vehicles have been in service since the early 1980s and have logged extensive combat experience in the decades since, including during the Gulf War, where they were successful in battle against Iraq’s Soviet-era equipment.

The models that Ukraine received are export models, which means they’re missing some of the bells and whistles but are nonetheless capable fighting platforms. The Abrams is widely considered one of the best tanks in Ukraine, and the Bradley has proven extremely valuable.

An M1 Abrams tank in service with the Ukrainian military fires its cannon in the Kursk region.

Since last year, the US has sent over 300 M2A2 Bradleys and 31 M1A1 Abrams variants to Ukraine, and Australia recently committed to sending nearly 50 more of the tanks.

These armored vehicles are tough, and Kyiv has even given them added protection. But some estimates suggest Russia has still damaged or destroyed dozens of them.

In a Monday statement posted to the Telegram messaging app, the 47th wrote that the video footage “once again” highlights the Abrams and Bradley interaction. Last week, the brigade shared a video showing the two vehicles operating in Kursk — their first publicized appearance on Russian soil. That video, unlike this one, lacked confirmation and required geolocation.

Ukraine launched a surprise invasion of Kursk in early August, marking the biggest assault by a foreign enemy on Russian soil since World War II. The region has seen intense fighting in the weeks since, with Moscow’s forces having taken back some of the territory it lost during the initial stages of the attack.