Ukraine has withdrawn its American-made Abrams battle tanks from the frontline over concerns they can be easily detected and targeted by Russian drones.Kyiv has lost five of the 31 Abrams tanks given to it by the US to Russian attacks since October last year.

Western aid will not allow Ukraine to seize the initiative and go back onto the offensive against Russia, a former British army officer warned. Richard Kemp, who served from 1977 to 2006, said US and UK munitions would let Kyiv stabilise the front line but would not allow them to take back land seized by Moscow.