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FromPatrick Mayer
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The Ukrainian ambassador shows himself on Twitter in front of a Leopard 1 tank. The “Leos” are supposed to go from Germany to the Ukraine faster than expected – in large numbers.
Munich/Düsseldorf – “New German hardness”: Under this hashtag, the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, announced in a tweet on Wednesday (May 24) what should soon reach Ukraine: 110 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks from German industrial stocks.
Tanks for Ukraine: Ambassador announces 110 Leopard 1 from Germany
Kiev will thus receive the huge delivery of German “Leos” approved by the traffic light federal government at the beginning of February much faster and in larger quantities than previously assumed. At the time, Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) had spoken of up to 178 possible Leopard 1s, but he named the delivery of 25 tanks by summer 2023 as the target.
The tanks first have to be prepared for battle by the German armaments company Rheinmetall from Düsseldorf, which may also be taking over 25 old Leopard 2 tanks from Switzerland. Apparently, Makeiev showed up at Rheinmetall in front of a Leopard 1A5 and wrote further to his posting: “110 1A5. Soon.”
110 🐆1A5. Soon. #New German Hardness #FFG pic.twitter.com/L9Rnf9SIZX
— Oleksii MAKEIEV 🇺🇦 (@Makeiev) May 24, 2023
It is an order of magnitude with a three-digit number of Western arms deliveries, which has not yet been mentioned in the Ukraine war. When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj visited Germany in mid-May, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) already symbolically presented him with 30 Leopard 1 for the defense of the Ukrainians against the Russian invasion.
Leopard 1 tanks for Ukraine: Germany will probably deliver more than 100 units
Germany had previously handed over 18 modern Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Kiev as part of a NATO initiative. According to the Secretary General of the transatlantic defense alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, Ukraine has received more than 230 tanks and another 1,550 armored vehicles for the planned counter-offensive from Western partners in the past few months – including 90 US Stryker wheeled armored vehicles.
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
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Leopard 1 tanks for Ukraine: Implementation in Germany took months
The delivery from Rheinmetall has dragged on for more than a year. It had already become known in April 2022 that the German armaments company had offered the Ukrainian government 88 Leopard 1s from old stock. In January, Rheinmetall publicly stated that it could deliver a total of 139 “Leos” 1 and 2. So now it should soon be 110 copies without affecting the existence of the Bundeswehr. (pm)
Rubric list image: © Screenshot Twitter@Makeiev
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