BEN STANSALL / AFP
The next offensive by the Kiev troops, which has been announced weeks ago by the Ukrainian authorities and is expected for this spring, is entering an active phase of preparation. On Monday, March 27, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced the arrival in Ukraine of the first heavy armored vehicles promised by the West for this winter: British Challenger 2 tanks, German Marder infantry fighting vehicles, transport of American Stryker troops …” The best vehicles for the best soldiers. In advance ! “, praises the Ministry in a message posted on Twitter, accompanied by a photo showing five of these armored vehicles.
Coincidence or coordinated communication operation, “eighteen [chars] Leopard 2 arrived in Ukraine today together with ammunition and spare parts,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Twitter on the same day. “Promised – delivered,” added the Socialist leader, while Germany has been accused by some of its partners, including France, of promising Ukraine a lot of material but delivering little. Portugal also announced on Monday that it had delivered three Leopard 2 tanks to troops in Kiev. Six more copies are expected from Spain by the end of the week.
For his part, in an interview published by Le Figaro on Tuesday, French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirms that Paris will “supply land equipment necessary for the counteroffensive in Ukraine: we are doubling the supply of 155mm shells to to increase it to 2,000 per month from the end of March”. The first examples of the “light” AMX-10 RC tanks promised by France in early January have also arrived in Ukraine, assures the minister, who declines to name their number. According to our information, more are to follow in the coming weeks, as well as new forward armored vehicles (VABs), several dozen of which have already been delivered to the Kiev Armed Forces in 2022.
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According to military experts, this equipment should allow the Ukrainians to form new mechanized brigades, which are essential for large-scale maneuvers. “For several months, the Russians have been strengthening their defensive positions. The attack on them will be more complicated than in the counter-offensives of the Ukrainians last year in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions. In particular, they will need more anti-mine vehicles,” said Léo Péria-Peigné, a researcher at the French Institute of International Relations. As a reminder, the counteroffensive launched in September 2022 in the north-east of the country had mobilized a dozen Ukrainian brigades, half of which were experienced in mechanized maneuvers.
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