Ukraine has withdrawn its American-made Abrams battle tanks from the frontline over concerns they can be easily detected and targeted by Russian drones.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. Ukraine had engaged in a months-long campaign arguing that the tanks, which cost about $10m apiece, were vital to its ability to breach Russian lines. The US is expected to announce that it will provide another $6bn in long-term military aid to Ukraine, US officials said, adding that it will include much sought after munitions for Patriot air defence systems. Elsewhere, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko claimed “several dozen” Russian tactical nuclear weapons had been deployed in Belarus, Russia’s Tass news agency said, under an agreement jointly announced last year with Vladimir Putin. It came as the Belarusian security service claimed to have thwarted an attack on the capital Minsk by drones launched from Nato-member Lithuania, which denied taking any hostile action.