The President of Ukraine,

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

, stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are in great need of modern tanks and called on the West to speed up the provision of military aid.

According to the results of the next Ramstein summit, Ukraine expects to receive hundreds of tanks from the Allies to organize an offensive on a strategically important front line.

However, Germany has not yet announced the decision to transfer Leopard tanks.

TSN.ua analyzed when and how many tanks Ukraine will receive, whether Germany will change its position on the Leopards, and how the Armed Forces can use Western aid.  

How many tanks will be given to Ukraine

In total, Ukraine is counting on 300 tanks from Western allies, military expert

Mykhailo Samus

said  on the air of the all-Ukrainian telethon broadcast by the TSN YouTube channel.

"

In addition to the Leopards, we also have the Challengers, we are also promised a sufficiently large number of Abrams, somewhere around 30-50. Plus T-72s, which are currently being modernized in the Czech Republic - 300 are already being recruited

... Of course , these are 300 "theoretical" - which we were promised. We will see when they appear in the troops. 100 tanks is already a brigade. A brigade of state-of-the-art tanks - and "Challengers", and "Leopards", and "Abrams", and even the French "Leclercs", which we were told about, are the highest pedestal of tanks in the world," the expert said.

According to Samus, Ukraine can get "Leopards-2" of the penultimate modification - "these are state-of-the-art tanks with extraordinary capabilities."

Telegram channel UA War Infographics published a list of countries that can transfer tanks to Ukraine: Germany, USA, Britain, France, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Portugal. 

In turn, the German publication Spiegel reports that European countries plan to provide the Ukrainian military with tanks for two battalions - 40 units each of 80 Leopards.

In addition, the United States of America will equip another battalion of Abrams.

When tanks can appear at the front

The supply of new tanks for the Armed Forces depends on each country providing military aid,

Mykhailo Samus

explained .

In his opinion, the first tanks will not arrive at the front before two months, as Ukrainian crews and units still have to undergo training.

Samus noted that 

Spain "said that their tanks are in normal condition, they will bring them to order in a month and will hand them over to Ukraine

. "

"Now the main thing is to prepare crews and technical personnel, to start preparing technical support systems, a repair base. It will depend on each country how quickly they will be able to transfer to Ukraine. And in our country, units and units will be formed that will perform the tasks." - he said.

When asked whether a month would be enough to train the crews, the military expert answered:

"I think so. Although there is crew training and unit training that will act as a unit...

I would say two months for it to be at the compound level

."

In turn, the publication Spiegel writes that

German tanks will enter service with the Armed Forces by the end of March 2023

.

It is noted that such a step takes place in coordination with international partners. 

Delay with "Leopards"

German Chancellor

Olaf Scholz

is delaying the transfer of modern Leopard tanks to Ukraine, citing the need for additional "coordination with allies", in particular with the USA.

As a result of the "Ramstein" summit on January 20, the allies did not decide on the delivery of German Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

The United States expressed its disappointment.

The publication Spiegel reported that the German authorities decided to send their main battle tanks Leopard-2 ("Leopard-2") to Ukraine, as well as to allow the supply of tanks to other countries.

However, this information has not yet been officially confirmed or denied.

Mykhailo Podolyak

, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine

, claims that "there will definitely be tanks, in any case," and Germany will soon make a decision about Leopard tanks.

"Today, almost everyone under the auspices of the president is engaged in negotiations on various platforms. Today, there is a clear understanding by almost all the leaders of our various partner countries that tanks must be transferred to Ukraine. This is not a matter of dozens, but of hundreds. It is a matter of logistics, some correct legal points, so that we get the Leopard tank as a priority...

Stoltenberg said that Germany will still agree to the supply of tanks and will do it itself. It's a matter of a few days

, "said the adviser to the head of the OP.

He also explained that

for Germany the supply of tanks is a very difficult internal issue, "because they cannot yet understand the historicity of this moment"

.

"Unfortunately, they have a very dark spot in history - the Second World War, and there is a negative image in history. And after that, they seem to have given up the role of European leader. And history is very capricious and does strange things. Today, it gives Germany this a chance to close the negative page of one's history with a positive one," Podolyak noted.

In an exclusive interview with TSN.ua, military expert

Oleg Zhdanov

also expressed confidence that there will be no major delays with the Leopards.

"

I saw a figure of 180 tanks that the German manufacturer Rheinmetall can provide

. These are Leopard-1 and Leopard-2, as I understand it, from the factory's "stockpile". I think we will receive tanks in full, in including from Germany itself. There is a positive point that in Germany, the Bundeswehr has already selected 19 tanks of the A5 version. This is a more modern version, packed with modern electronics, unlike the A4, which our partners want to transfer to us.

We can get 19 machines from the Bundeswehr itself

." , - says Zhdanov.

The expert sees no problems with the transfer of tanks - "it's money, the US will compensate for everything."

Where the Armed Forces will use tanks from allies

Military expert, reserve colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine 

Roman Svitan

 in an exclusive interview with TSN.ua noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine with new tanks will be able to go on the offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region to the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov and cut off the invaders' land corridor to Crimea.

According to him,

enough equipment will be handed over to Ukraine for a major offensive operation, which involves going to the Azov coast

.

According to some positions, the allies agreed to give even more than Ukraine asked for:

"Suppose we were given more than 1,000 of the same armored vehicles, although we asked for about 700. We were given more than 150 tanks, which is more than half of what we asked for. There remains the issue of the Leopards, which will be closed in the coming weeks. We will receive more than 300 tanks. There are positive news related to the supply of a large amount of ammunition to the self-propelled guns and to the "Khaimars" for the performance of offensive tasks."

As the expert explained, after the armored vehicles arrive, the

Armed Forces will be able to leave "from any point on the Zaporozhye Front to any point on the Azov coast."

This will cause the collapse of the Zaporizhia and Kherson fronts, after which the deoccupation of Crimea will become possible

.

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