The intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain suggests that Russia is preparing to transfer its new T-14 "Armata" tanks, which have already been moved to southern Russian training grounds, to the combat zone on the territory of Ukraine - they are associated with activities before the deployment of military events in Ukraine.

"Any deployment of the T-14 will most likely be a very risky decision for Russia," British intelligence officers are convinced.

Russian T-14 tank on parade in Moscow.

Archive photo

The Ministry of Defense of Great Britain recalled that this tank was developed for 11 years: the implementation program was repeatedly disrupted, there were problems with production, and as a result, its volume was reduced.

British intelligence called an additional problem for Russia a more complex and difficult logistical chain than for other Russian tanks.

"If Russia deploys the T-14, it will most likely be for propaganda purposes.

The number of created tanks is probably only a few dozen, and the commanders are unlikely to consider this machine reliable for fighting," said British intelligence officers.

What tanks is waiting for Ukraine

The next few days will be key for the approval by Ukraine's western partners of the decision to supply tanks to Ukraine.

Work continues on the formation of the so-called "tank coalition" - a group of countries ready to transfer Western-made tanks.

The turning point could be another Rammstein-style meeting — when dozens of defense ministers will gather in Germany to discuss another package of Western military aid to the Armed Forces.

Since the beginning of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which had stockpiles of Soviet tanks since the Warsaw Pact, have already transferred them to Ukraine.

According to some reports, Ukraine received up to 410 Soviet-made tanks from post-communist countries, mostly T-72.

They were handed over by Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Slovenia.

At the end of 2022, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ,

, said that Ukraine needs 300 more tanks to win the war.

Apparently, he meant tanks of Western production.

"These tanks would show themselves on the battlefield several heads higher than any tank of the Russian army that they currently have in their arsenal.

And if you take into account that they had all kinds of T-72 or T-90, which, to be honest, are not much different from the T-72B... If you look at it globally, then Western tanks were created in order to resist as effectively as possible, including and tanks of the Soviet Union,"

, editor-in-chief of the Defense Express portal, told Svaboda

.

British tank Challenger 2. Archive photo

Now everyone is focused on the German Leopard 2 tanks, which are in service with many European members of NATO and the European Union.

Which countries are ready to transfer German tanks Leopard 2

According to the Ukrainian authorities, five countries are now ready to transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine, but only two are named so far - Poland (has about 250 Leopard tanks) and Finland (has more than a hundred Leopard tanks).

But since Germany is a manufacturing country, Berlin must also give permission.

Now the armies of 20 countries of the world have Leopard tanks in service.

The tank weighs more than 60 tons, has a 120 mm gun and can hit targets at a distance of up to five kilometers.

But Germany is still looking to the USA.

Last week, Chancellor

said that Germany "will not take independent steps."

"Germany will always be united with its friends and allies.

Especially with our transatlantic partner, the USA.

Anything else would be irresponsible in such a dangerous situation," said Scholz.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks near the Leopard 2 tank during a visit to the military base.

Bergen, Germany, October 17, 2022

Therefore, Germany is now looking to the US, and the US to Germany, when considering whether to transfer American Abrams tanks.

Indecision on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine, as reported by the media, could be one of the reasons for the resignation of the Minister of Defense of Germany

.

Now there are certain signs that the new minister may be more sympathetic to the idea of ​​supplying Leopards to Ukraine, or at least allowing other European countries to supply these tanks from their stocks.

According to reports in the German press, if the German government soon approves the decision to transfer tanks to Ukraine, then by the end of 2023 the German government will be able to transfer 10 to 15 repaired tanks.

Earlier, Poland said that it can transfer a company of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, which is about 10-15 tanks.

In Davos, Polish representatives reported that Warsaw is ready to hand over 14 Leopards to Ukraine.

Experts say that while these plans are implemented, while Ukrainian crews are trained and a network is created for the repair and maintenance of Western tanks, months may pass.

What about American tanks

Ukraine has been asking the US for Abrams tanks for a long time.

Valery Zaluzhny and the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General

Milley, are believed to have discussed this topic at a meeting in Poland.

American tank M1A2 Abrams

Until now, the American press wrote that Abrams tanks are very heavy, but this argument can now be rejected after the decision of Great Britain to transfer 14 Challenger 2 heavy tanks to Ukraine. In addition, Abrams tanks are difficult to maintain and require long-term training of crews.

Russia's war against Ukraine

• At 5:00 a.m. on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a military operation against Ukraine in the Donbass at the request of the "DPR" and "LPR" groups.

  On February 21, during a televised address to Russians, Putin called the so-called "DPR" and "LPR" independent states within the regions.

  On February 22, the Council of the Federation ratified this decision.

• All days of the war, Ukrainian cities were bombarded with rockets, aircraft flew over them.

  Russian troops are attacking, including from the territory of Belarus, using airfields, bases and roads.

  Representatives of Lukashenka's regime justify the war, his opponents consider the territory of Belarus to be occupied, many call for resistance to the Russian invaders.

• On February 27, the International Legion of Territorial Defense was created in Ukraine, and foreign volunteers were invited to join it.

  Belarusians also entered there.

• In 2022, 17 Belarusians were killed in Ukraine fighting for its independence.

  These are ten soldiers of the Kalinovsky Regiment and seven from other units fighting in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

  It is known about two Belarusian soldiers who were captured by the Russians.

• On March 30, the UN approved the composition of an independent commission that will investigate Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

  It included people who worked in the analysis of the genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

• Contrary to Putin's statements about attacks only on military facilities, the Russians are bombing schools, kindergartens and residential areas of Ukrainian cities.

  The Russians are using banned weapons, including cluster bombs, against civilians.

• On April 1, Lithuania became the first country in the European Union to completely abandon Russian gas.

  Latvia and Estonia followed her example.

  Germany has promised to completely stop using Russian oil by the end of 2022.

• On April 2, after the liberation of the town of Bucha near Kyiv, photojournalists published dozens of photographs showing hundreds of dead people, victims of mass murders committed by Russian troops.

  Many are buried in spontaneous mass graves.

  The Russian occupation also brought great destruction to the people of Barodyan.

  It is also known about a number of rapes, including babies.

• On May 9, the US President signed the Land Leasing Law.

  This law restores the program from the Second World War, which will speed up the supply of weapons to Ukraine and increase the amount of such assistance.

• On July 29, as a result of an attack on the colony in Alenivka, at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners who defended the "Azovstal" plant in Mariupol and surrendered after completing their mission were killed.

  The Russians accused Ukraine of the attack, the Ukrainian side declared the deliberate killing of prisoners by the Russian side.

  The Russian occupation authorities prevented the UN and Red Cross missions from entering Alenavka.

• Officials of Ukraine claim the death of 10,000 to 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

  Russia claims that more than 110,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and wounded.

• The military staffs of the USA and Europe assessed the losses of Russia and Ukraine as parity - about 100,000 soldiers on each side.

• During the six months of the war, Russia was able to occupy about 20% of the Ukrainian territory.

  In March, the area of ​​occupied land reached 30%.

  However, at the end of the month, Russian troops retreated from the north of Ukraine, as well as from most of the Kharkiv region.

  At the end of August, Crimea, Luhansk and Kherson regions were completely occupied.

  And also 50% of the territory of the Donetsk region, about 70% of the Zaporizhia region, approximately 30% of the Kharkiv region.

• Since February 24, Russia has captured only one regional center - Kherson.

  Russian troops retreated from it and from the right-bank part of the Kherson region in November 2022.

  The city was occupied by Russian troops in the first days of the war without actually fighting.

  Kyiv suspects part of the former leadership of Kherson and the region of treason.

  The former head of the SBU of the Kharkiv region was also detained on such suspicion.

  Now the front line in the Kherson region runs along the Dnieper.

  The Russian military regularly bombards Kherson and other territories on the right bank of the Dnieper.

• In September, Ukrainian troops launched a large-scale counteroffensive, as a result of which Russian forces began to rapidly flee from their positions in the Kharkiv region.

  Only on the day of September 11, Ukrainians liberated more than 20 settlements in Slobazhanshchyna.

• In September, Ukraine withdrew its mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under the AAN to send an aviation unit to defend against Russian aggression.

• On September 21, Putin announced the mobilization in Russia.

  After this statement, thousands of Russians went to the border crossings and began to leave for Georgia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Mongolia, Finland and other countries.

  In Russia itself, opponents of the war set fire to several military offices.

  Even people without military experience began to be conscripted into the army, despite promises that only experienced people would go to war.

  The mobilization of men into the Russian army also takes place in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

• On October 2, Putin submitted a bill to the Russian parliament, which is an attempt to annex parts of four regions of Ukraine.

  Two new republics - "LPR" and "DNR" - and two regions - Zaporizhia and Kherson will be part of Russia.

  But thanks to the counteroffensive of the Ukrainians, the borders drawn in Moscow are not fully controlled by the occupying forces.

• In October, Ukrainian troops successfully continued their counteroffensive, at the beginning of October they liberated Liman and Yampal, and also came significantly closer to Svatov in the Luhansk region, and from there the way to Severodanetsk and Lysichansk opens.

• On the morning of October 10, the Russians began intensive shelling of Ukrainian territory, including the center of Kyiv.

  Rockets also reached Lviv, depriving the city of electricity.

  Since then, Russia has carried out about 10 missile attacks on infrastructure facilities and other civilian targets on the territory of Ukraine.

• On October 10, Lukashenka held a meeting with the Security Council and announced the deployment of a joint grouping of troops with Putin.

• On the evening of November 15, Russia fired 100 missiles across the territory of Ukraine, primarily at energy facilities, and in Poland, two missiles fell in the village of Przewodau, 6 km from the border with Ukraine, killing two people.

  The Polish authorities summoned the Russian ambassador for explanations.

  Then it turned out that it was probably the result of the work of the Ukrainian Air Defense Forces, which shot down a Russian missile.

• In November, with the onset of cold weather, Russia intensified its missile attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

  As a result, many Ukrainian cities and part of Moldova were left without electricity and water.

  Ukraine called an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

• On January 1, 2023, the Department of Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the death of almost 400 Russians during the attack on the building of the Polytechnic School No. 19 in Makeyevka.

  Russian soldiers were there and mobilized.

  The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation recognized 89 killed.

• On January 14, 2023, as a result of another shelling, a Russian missile hit a high-rise building in the city of Dnipro, killing and injuring dozens of people.

  The rescue operation to find the bodies stretched for several days.

• Independent verification of information about military actions provided by officials of various parties is still impossible.