"As promised, our tanks arrived on time in the hands of our Ukrainian friends. I am sure that they can do something important at the front," said Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) in the evening. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had previously confirmed the delivery of the Leopard tanks at the German-Dutch government consultations in Rotterdam.
The transport of the tanks began last week and they have now been handed over to the Ukrainian armed forces at the border, the "Spiegel" reported on Monday. The exact transport route is being kept secret for security reasons.
At the end of January, the federal government had promised Ukraine the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks from Bundeswehr stocks by the end of March and had the USA also announce tank deliveries. The total of 18 Type 2 A6 tanks, together with modern Leopard tanks from Sweden and Portugal, are intended to reach the battalion strength of 31 tanks that is usual in Ukraine.
In the past two months, crews from the Ukraine have been trained on the Leopard tank at the Munster military training area in Lower Saxony. According to the Defense Ministry, ammunition and spare parts as well as two Buffalo-type armored recovery vehicles have now also arrived in Ukraine. Around 40 Marder armored personnel carriers are already in the country.
The supply of western heavy tanks to Ukraine to fight against Russian forces was discussed among the allies for months; Chancellor Scholz had insisted that Germany would not take such a step alone.
Barely two weeks before the federal government, the government in London had promised Ukraine the delivery of heavy battle tanks; 14 Challenger 2 tanks were announced.
At the same time, Poland also promised to supply Leopard tanks of an older German-made model. Together with other states, Poland is putting together a battle group and has also already delivered the first Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
The Challenger tanks from Britain "are already in Ukraine," said a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on Monday evening. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said he had inspected "new arrivals" for the Ukrainian armed forces - Challenger tanks as well as German Marder infantry fighting vehicles, Cougar armored trucks and Stryker armored transporters from the US.
"A year ago, nobody would have expected such strong support from our partners," Resnikov explained on the online service Facebook. He described the British Challengers as "military works of art".
In London, the British government announced that Ukrainian soldiers who had been trained on Challenger 2 tanks could now be used on the front lines. "Ukrainian tank crews have completed their training (...) in Britain and have returned home to continue their fight against the (...) invasion of Russia," the UK Defense Ministry said in a statement.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace reiterated that Britain "will remain at their side and will do everything in our power to support Ukraine for as long as necessary".
