Ukraine will receive “between 120 and 140” Western heavy tanks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Koleba said on Tuesday, days after the West gave the green light for such deliveries after a long delay.
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“In the first wave of contributions, the Ukrainian armed forces will receive 120 to 140 modern tanks of Western models,” the minister said in a video on Facebook, recalling that these are the German-designed Leopard 2s, the British Challenger 2 and the American Abrams. .
This is the first time Kyiv has revealed the total number of these tanks that its Western allies have promised.
In recent days, several countries have expressed their desire to quickly deliver these vehicles to Ukraine, including the United Kingdom, which intends to deliver Challengers at the end of March, and Germany, which intends to send its first Leopard 2s in early April.
Washington, for its part, announced it would send 31 Abrams.
But between upstream repair and maintenance needs, the delivery process can take months, and training Ukrainian soldiers on these models, which they have never used in the field, according to several chancelleries.
In addition to these logistical problems, other countries, such as France, hesitate at this point before sending their heavy tanks to Ukraine.
Ukraine has already received foreign tanks in recent months, including more than 250 modernized versions of the Soviet T-72 from Poland, but so far the West has been wary of sending its modern models, lest it provoke a new Russian. Increase.
