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This summer, Germany secretly pushed for arms aid for Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia. This is demonstrated by a massive military package from Berlin.
Kyiv – In Germany, the 2024 European Football Championship (14 June to 14 July) is in full swing, and every now and then summer even breaks through.
Weapons for Ukraine: Berlin puts together next military package for Kyiv
Meanwhile, far away, the war in Ukraine continues unabated – bloody, brutal, oppressive. Russia attacks without restraint, and despite heavy losses among its own people, Moscow keeps letting its soldiers attack. Many of them die in the neighboring country.
So that Ukraine can continue to defend itself against the attack, which violates international law, Berlin sent Kyiv the next huge military package for its army at the end of June and beginning of July, almost secretly and largely unnoticed. Among other things, this includes 39 tanks from the stocks of the German arms industry and the Bundeswehr.
Weapons deliveries to Kyiv: Berlin provides Ukraine with Marder and Leopard 1
This is clear from the List of military support services the traffic light federal government of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. Among other things, the Ukrainian armed forces received ten more Leopard 1A5 battle tanks and twenty more Marder infantry fighting vehicles from Germany last week. This brings the number of “Marders” delivered from Germany for the Ukraine war to 120, and the number of refurbished “Leos” 1 (from the 1960s) to a total of 50.
According to the German government’s website, in addition to ammunition for the Leopard 1 and the Marder, two additional Biber armoured bridge-laying vehicles (previously 19), two additional Dachs armoured engineer vehicles (previously nine), an armoured recovery vehicle 2 (previously 17) and four additional Wisent 1 mine-clearing vehicles (previously 38) were added. In total, Germany is working on the delivery of up to 105 refurbished Leopard 1A5s. For its part, Ukraine hopes to be able to set up an attack brigade for offensive operations with the “Leos” and the “Marders” after having been conspicuously defensively holding back the remaining western tanks for months.
Air defence for Ukraine: Germany supplies IRIS-T SLM and IRIS-T SLS
One flaw: According to its own statements, the Federal Ministry of Defense actually wanted to provide the Ukrainian army with up to 80 Leopard 1A5s by the end of 2023 in a project financed jointly with Denmark. However, this number has been significantly missed in recent months. Also because the German arms industry, according to its own statements, has to first collect the spare parts for the tanks ultimately delivered from old tanks in storage.
While Russian fighter pilots are already having to release some of their glide bombs over Russia, the traffic light coalition has also confirmed further deliveries to Ukraine in terms of air defense. Germany also delivered an additional IRIS-T SLM air defense system (previously three) and another IRIS-T SLS air defense system (previously one) to protect critical infrastructure and cities against insidious Russian air attacks.
Weapons in the Ukraine war: Germany pays Kyiv three HIMARS from the USA
A particularly sensational delivery of weapons is now appearing for the first time on the list of the traffic light coalition: three HIMARS multiple rocket launchers. This is because the Bundeswehr does not have the HIMARS in its artillery inventory, but rather the technically very similar MLRS multiple rocket launchers, of which the Ukrainians received four from Germany after the Russian attack in 2022.
At the beginning of May, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD), after talks with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin, announced that Germany would pay for the delivery of three HIMARS rocket artillery systems from the USA to Ukraine. The new, huge military package from Berlin now also included those HIMARS. (pm)
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