Germany and Britain have delivered Western heavy tanks to Ukraine, officials said on Monday, providing a key infusion of armored firepower that would aid Kyiv’s battle against invading Russian troops.
The tanks — long an item on Ukraine’s military equipment wish list — were promised to Kyiv earlier this year and have arrived in time for an expected spring offensive by Ukraine’s forces.
As Ukraine gains conventional firepower, the Kremlin vowed to follow through on a plan announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, an initiative which has drawn widespread criticism.
Photo: Reuters / Press Service of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told journalists on Monday that Berlin had provided “very modern” Leopard battle tanks to Kyiv, with the German Ministry of Defense later saying 18 were delivered.
“Our tanks have made it into the hands of our Ukrainian friends as promised and on time,” German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius said in a statement.
They are joined by Challenger tanks from Britain, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said.
Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov had said earlier that he inspected a “new addition” to the nation’s forces — Challenger tanks as well as Germany’s Marder infantry fighting vehicles, plus Cougar armored trucks and Stryker armored personnel carriers from the US.
“A year ago, no one would have thought that our partners’ support would be so strong,” Reznikov wrote on Facebook.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Western criticism of Putin’s tactical nuclear weapon announcement “cannot influence Russian plans.”
Speaking in a televised interview two days earlier, Putin said Moscow would station the tactical nuclear weapons “without violating our international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday told the visiting head of the International Atomic Energy Agency that it was not possible to restore safety at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant with Russia still in control, ahead of Rafael Grossi’s visit to the site.
“Without the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and personnel from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and adjacent territory, any initiatives to restore nuclear safety and security are doomed to failure,” Zelenskiy told Grossi, a statement from the presidency said.
Grossi is expected to visit the nuclear plant later this week.
In eastern Ukraine, Russian missiles punched through buildings in the town of Sloviansk, killing two people in their cars and wounding more than 30, police said.
A blood-stained cap lay at the side of the street, next to a parked car whose front seat was covered with blood and shattered glass.
Police said the missiles were Russian-made S-300s.
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