A Bundeswehr Gepard tank equipped with an anti-aircraft battery at the Todendorf base in Germany in 2004. MICHAEL MANDT / AFP
The shipment of heavy weapons to Ukraine, which a growing number of Western countries have been taking over in recent days, is a new turning point in the conflict that began on February 24. While in the first phase of the war European and American support was limited – at least publicly – to sending fuel, protective equipment, ammunition, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons and, in the name of risking being seen as an accomplice, to warring factions, in recent days a Conversion to more offensive equipment such as howitzers, tanks, armored vehicles and helicopters took place.
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If the first wave of arms shipments played a key role in hampering the initial Russian “special operation” in Kyiv, the West’s qualitative leap corresponds to a double goal: on the one hand, to restore the Ukrainians’ capacities after an initial phase in which . Despite very little public information about the state of their forces, they suffered significant casualties in men and equipment. on the other hand, to equip the troops in Kyiv with the means to repel the Russian offensive in the Donbass, in order to finally “win” the war, the ambition shown by the United States during the meeting organized on Tuesday, April 26th at their military base in Ramstein, Germany.
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Moscow has decided to focus its war effort on eastern Ukraine, in order to at least end its hold on the Donbass region, or even permanently cut off Ukraine’s access to the Sea of Azov. “The challenge is really to avoid the collapse of the Ukrainians,” summarizes Léo Péria-Peigné, armaments specialist at the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI).
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“Giving Ukrainians Mobility”
Several heavy weapon categories have been dispatched or are due to be dispatched shortly. The first is howitzers. While the conflict is currently moving towards a trench warfare with a relatively delimited front, these guns allow powerful and accurate charges to be fired up to a distance of tens of kilometers (sometimes 40 km). These howitzers can be towed or self-propelled. The Netherlands, Estonia, the Czech Republic, France with its Caesar cannons and above all the USA have announced the delivery. The American effort is particularly significant as it reaches the figure of 90, ie more than the entire French stock (about 75).
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Second category of heavy equipment that Westerners have announced plans to supply: tanks and armored vehicles. The Czech Republic was the first to take the step of the tanks in early April. Poland, meanwhile, has reported that by some estimates it has done the same, with several dozen tanks and armored personnel carriers supplied. Finally, on April 26, Germany announced the dispatch of Gepard-type tanks in particular, to be taken from the stocks of German industry. The United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Australia joined this movement, but with personnel carriers of various types, including mine-resistant ones.
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