First of Canada’s Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine already in Poland
The Leopard 2 tank from Canada has already been delivered to Poland (Photo:Anita Anand/twitter.com)
The first of the four Leopard 2 tanks that Canada is providing to Ukraine has already arrived in Poland, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand reported on Twitter on Feb. 6.
"The first Canadian Leopard 2 main battle tank that we've donated to Ukraine has now arrived in Poland,” she said.
“Alongside our allies, we’ll soon be training the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the use of this equipment.”
On Jan. 26, Anita Anand said that Canada would provide four German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. At the time, she noted that the number of tanks could increase, but this would be decided in coordination with partners.
On Feb. 4, a plane carrying the first Leopard 2 battle tank for Ukraine took off from Halifax, Canada.
Ukraine has been requesting main battle tanks from its military allies since the first weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which started nearly a year ago. However, it is only since last autumn that the country’s campaign for supplies of tanks began to pick up steam.
After the United Kingdom said it would send Ukraine some Challenger 2 tanks, and Poland announced it would send 14 Leopard tanks, Germany after some hesitation approved on Jan. 25 the transfer of 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and their re-export from partner countries.
On the same day, the United States announced the future deployment of U.S. 31 Abrams main battle tanks to the front.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius later said that the first Western tanks could be sent to Ukraine by the end of March.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that Ukraine will receive 120-140 modern Western tanks in the first wave of deliveries. According to him, the tank coalition supporting Ukraine already includes 12 participating countries.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian military needs 300-500 tanks to conduct an offensive to liberate the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
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