Amid a new wave of Russian attacks on key infrastructure in Ukraine, Britain has announced it will deliver 14 heavy main battle tanks to Kyiv.
The deployment of Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems should help the Ukrainian army “repel Russian troops”, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said yesterday.
AP/Joerg Sarbach
Sunak announced the delivery of the tanks in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Great Britain is therefore the first country to deliver heavy main battle tanks to Ukraine. Germany, for example, refuses.
Russia warns
Zelenskyy welcomed the British decision. Not only will it “strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield”, it will also “send the right signal to other partners”, he wrote on Twitter. After London’s announcement, Moscow warned that such a move would only “intensify” the conflict.
The tanks will arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks, the British prime minister’s office at 10 Downing Street said. Britain will begin training Ukrainian soldiers in tanks and artillery systems in the coming days.