In the Russian and Georgian segment of the social network Facebook, as well as in pro-Kremlin media, information is being spread that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin allegedly advised the Russian military not to hunt Abrams tanks, so as not to repeat the situation with Leopard tanks. It seems that he said: “A repetition of the situation with the German “Leopards”, when they were hunted, is unacceptable, I saw these calls. Play by the rules!”. It's fake.

As fact-checkers of the MythDetector project note, this news is fake, and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin did not say such a phrase. Using search engines, experts determined that before getting onto Facebook, this phrase, allegedly belonging to Austin, first spread on September 25 on the social network X (formerly Twitter). However, its original source is not indicated.

During the 15th meeting of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine, held in Germany, Lloyd Austin spoke about assistance to Ukraine, but did not utter phrases regarding the content of the hunt for Abrams tanks. This quote does not appear in any official source or reliable media.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Western partners and show that the US Secretary of Defense is making strange calls to take care of the equipment of the Ukrainian military. Propagandists are trying to create the illusion that the Russian military with its weapons is invincible and is destroying the weapons provided to Ukraine by its partners. Recently, Detector Media refuted the fake that Sweden confirmed the loss of all its tanks provided to Ukraine.