The remaining Leopard 2 tanks are conspicuously being passed back and forth between three small towns on the Ukrainian front. This shows the plight of the Ukrainian army.
Kreminna – The Ukraine war may sometimes seem a bit far away. But while Donald Trump's Republicans in the USA are blocking military aid, the Federal Republic is becoming perhaps Kiev's most important partner these days.
Front in the East: Ukrainians are probably moving Leopard 2 tanks from Avdiivka to Kreminna
Vladimir Putin's regime is probably even having Bundeswehr locations spied on because Ukrainian soldiers are being trained there on Western weapons systems. A US general criticizes Germany because it is not supplying more artillery ammunition or because the arms industry between Düsseldorf (Rheinmetall) and Munich (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann) has not increased the necessary capacities for this.
Because the American Abrams main battle tanks are vulnerable to Russian Lancet kamikaze drones, hopes lie primarily in the east of the front with the German “Leos”. Like the business magazine Forbes Reportedly, the Ukrainians recently moved their remaining Leopard 2A6s from Avdiivka in Donbass to Kreminna, almost 70 kilometers north. It shows: The “Leopards” are always deployed where there is the most fire.
Near Kreminna in the east: stalled Ukraine front against the Russian army
Accordingly, parts of the 47th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian army and its “Leos” are now fighting with parts of the 21st brigade on the front line near the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk (formerly 100,000 inhabitants) and Lysychansk (formerly 93,000 inhabitants), which the Ukrainian armed forces (provisionally) had given up in the summer of 2022. At Kreminna, a little west of there, fighting has largely stalled since then.
But: According to that Institute for the Study of War (ISW) At the beginning of January, the Russian invasion troops are said to have made progress near the village of Terny, around 18 kilometers west of Kreminna (once 20,000 inhabitants). The US think tank quotes a Russian military blogger who said the Russians were also making progress eight kilometers north near the village of Nevske. The information cannot be independently verified.
The ISW also recorded “significant fighting” around Kupyansk (formerly 30,000 inhabitants), located 90 kilometers northwest of Kreminna in Kharkiv Oblast. This has been the case for weeks, if not months. While Bakhmut and Avdiivka in particular were the focus of attention, Russian losses in Ukraine are also enormous near Kupyansk.
With Volodymyr Zelenskyj: Leopard 2 tank was also spotted near Kupyansk
This is suggested by a number of drone recordings by Ukrainian military bloggers, which are said to come from this area. The American military analysts ISW are warning of a possible new Russian offensive right here in the northeast.
At the end of October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj appeared there with a Ukrainian tank unit in front of a modern Leopard 2 tank covered with a camouflage net (see photo below), probably a 2A6. Germany delivered 18 of this model and Portugal delivered three more copies. Together with other NATO partners, there were at least 57 Leopard 2s for the attacked country.
Russian attacks near Kupyansk: ISW expects new offensive in Kharkiv Oblast
“Russian forces may step up their efforts to capture Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region in the coming weeks,” the US think tank’s analysts wrote ISW. In their estimation, the Russian troops stationed there are less worn out than elsewhere. Kupyansk is not only a strategically important railway junction, the P07 national road also runs from here to just outside the gates of the city of Kharkiv – with 1.4 million inhabitants, the second largest city in the country.
Kupyansk is further divided in half by the Oskil River, which represents a natural barrier for Kremlin ruler Putin's army. Loud ntv.de The Ukrainians only hold a limited strip of land east of the Oskil. Apparently the “Leos” 2 are being pushed back and forth in the east between Avdiivka, Kreminna and Kupyansk. For the defense of Avdiivka, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles were quickly converted into battle tanks.
Weapons for Ukraine: A number of Leopard 2 tanks are in Lithuania for repairs
The catch with the new “Leopard” tactic: According to Green Party budget politician Sebastian Schäfer, several of the delivered Leopard 2A6s are currently in the repair workshop (“hub”) set up by the German arms industry in Lithuania – far away from the front. The passing on of the remaining “Leos” 2 also shows the Ukrainian army’s need for tanks as it eagerly awaits more older Leopard 1A5s from Germany, D
enmark and the Netherlands at the beginning of the year. (pm)
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