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(CNN) — In the first delivery of such weapons to Ukraine since the start of the war, the Polish government announced on Wednesday that it will supply German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukrainian forces fighting Russia after the invasion in 2022.
“As part of building an international coalition, a company of Leopard combat vehicles will be delivered to Ukraine,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Lviv.
“This decision has already been made in Poland,” Duda said in the official statement.
Zelenskyy, who has been calling for tanks for months, welcomed the announcement and said he could finally “say a very important word for our defense, for our state, for our army, for the common defense of Ukraine and all of Europe: the word ‘tanks’.” “.
A Leopard 2 tank of the Polish army takes part in the VJTF forces’ NATO military exercises Noble Jump June 18, 2015 in Zagan, Poland. (Image credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Ukraine, which has a fleet of Soviet-designed and, in some cases, manufactured tanks, has asked Western countries, and particularly NATO members, to send modern tanks. With these weapons, it hopes to be able to replace losses, withstand Russian attacks and also carry out counter-offensives such as those in Kherson and Kharkiv in late 2022, for which these weapon systems are better suited.
But although the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and many other countries have sent numerous weapon systems, including anti-tank missiles, self-propelled artillery and anti-aircraft batteries, they have so far refused to supply tanks, weapons of an offensive character.
In recent weeks, the United States and Germany have even announced the delivery of armored vehicles, superficially resembling tanks but fulfilling different roles on the battlefield in design, armament, and armor. These are the Bradley and Marder infantry fighting vehicles, respectively.
The Leopard 2, armed with a 120mm gun and protected by advanced frontal armor, is a tank designed and manufactured by the Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann company in Germany. Despite entering service in 1979, its latest versions – the Leopard 2 A7 – are still considered top-class for firepower, mobility, armor and systems, and capable of rivaling Russia’s most advanced tanks.
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While its older variants – like the Leopard 2 A4 – remain relatively competitive in certain scenarios, even more so when they receive modernizations.
Poland has a large fleet of Leopard 2 A4 and A5 tanks that have been modernized, according to the Polish Armed Forces website. More recently, however, Warsaw seems to have also opted to upgrade its armed forces by purchasing US M1 Abrams and South Korean K2 tanks.
It is not known what models Poland will deliver to Ukraine once the operation is completed.
Although Poland has the vehicles and is ready to cede them to Ukraine. it first has to clear bureaucratic hurdles, because every re-export of weapons made in Germany has to be approved by the government in Berlin.
However, since Berlin has already agreed to the shipment of Marder armored personnel carriers to Ukraine and has refused to provide its own Leopard 1 or Leopard 2, it remains to be seen whether this approval will be achieved.
With reports by Antonia Mortensen, Kevin Liptak, Brad Lendon, Yoonjung Seo and Joseph Ataman.