Spiegel: Ukraine received 18 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany
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Germany delivered to Ukraine previously promised 18 of its Leopard 2 tanks, informed Der Spiegel.
As the newspaper notes, citing sources, the last tanks were sent from Germany last week and have already arrived in Ukraine. In addition to tanks, the Armed Forces of Ukraine also received about 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles.
The deliveries of 18 German and three Portuguese Leopard 2 tanks by the end of March were previously announced by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. Initially, at the end of January, Germany announced the delivery of 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.
Poland, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Canada and the Netherlands also announced plans to transfer tanks to Kyiv. In addition, the UK announced the shipment of its Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, and the US – M1 Abrams.
On February 18, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that a Russian victory in the Ukrainian conflict would be “extremely dangerous” for NATO, so it is necessary to continue to support Ukraine. The secretary general also believes that the countries of the alliance should prepare for confrontation with Russia: modernize their own armies, strengthen relations between European countries and the United States, and generally strengthen the “resilience” of Western society.
The Russian authorities have repeatedly criticized the supply of Western weapons to Kyiv. In particular, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, warned that pumping Ukraine with weapons brings NATO closer to the dangerous line of a direct military clash with Russia. The Kremlin said that the Leopard and Abrams tanks would burn down the same way as the rest of Western military equipment. Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, stressed that tanks would not save Ukraine, and State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin predicted the fate of the fascist Tigers for them.
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