The United States and Germany announced that they will provide dozens of heavy weapons to help Kiev break the fighting deadlock.
Germany and the United States announced on Wednesday that they will send tanks to Ukraine, the first stage of a coordinated effort by the West to provide dozens of heavy weapons to help Kiev break fighting deadlocks as Russia's invasion enters its twelfth invasion month.
Joe Biden said the U.S. will send 31 M1 Abrams tanks, reversing months of persistent arguments from Washington that they were too difficult for Ukrainian troops to operate and maintain.
The US decision follows Germany agreeing to send 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from its own stocks. Germany had said the Leopards would not be sent unless the US put its Abrams on the table, not wanting to provoke Russia's ire without the US making a similar commitment.
"This is the result of intensive consultations, once again, with our international allies and partners," Chancellor Olaf Scholz told German lawmakers. "It was good, and it's important that we don't get carried away" to the decision.
Biden said European allies agreed to send enough tanks to equip two battalions of Ukrainian tanks, or a total of 62 tanks.
Germany's Leopard 2 tank and the US M1 Abrams have similar measures and capabilities. These similarities are no coincidence: they are designed to ensure that soldiers in both types of vehicles can cooperate on NATO battlefields.
The M1 Abrams tanks
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| FILE - A soldier walks alongside a line of M1 Abrams tanks (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP, File) |
The M1 Abrams is America's main battle tank, in service since 1980, and is among the most powerful in the world. In modern versions of the vehicle, layers of depleted uranium armor provide substantial protection to those inside.
After the Gulf War, the U.S. military developed the M1A2 Abrams, which has been steadily improved over the past two decades. It weighs more than 70 tons, reaches speeds of up to about 72 kilometers per hour (42 mph) and is armed with a 120 mm main cannon, a .50 caliber M2 machine gun and a pair of 7.62 mm M240 machine guns.
Manned by a team of four soldiers, specifically the gunner, loader, driver and commander, the Abrams can provide the mobility, firepower and shock effect needed to exploit weak points in enemy lines and pursue offensive advances.
The total cost of a single Abrams tank can vary, and can exceed $10 million per tank if training and maintenance are included.
The Leopard 2 tanks
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| A Leopard 2 tank (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File) |
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, the German manufacturer of the Leopard 2, declares in its advertising that they are "the best battle tank in the world", which for almost half a century has combined aspects of firepower, protection, speed and maneuverability, allowing it to adapt to many types of combat situations.
The 55-ton tank has a crew of four, a range of about 500 kilometers (310 miles) and a top speed of about 66 kilometers per hour (about 42 miles per hour). Now on sale in four main variants, its initial version was first offered in 1979. Its main weapon is a 120mm smoothbore cannon, and it has a fully digitized fire control system.
A big plus point for German-made tanks is their sheer number: more than 2,000 have been stationed in more than a dozen European countries and Canada. In total, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann says more than 3,500 units have been shipped to 19 countries.
Rheinmetall AG, a German defense contractor that makes the Leopard 2's 120mm smoothbore gun, says the tank has been deployed by "more nations than any other."
According to a recent analysis by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a global research center based in London, some 350 Leopard 2s — in different versions — have been shipped to Greece, and Poland has about 250 of different types. Finland has 200 in operation or in storage.
Yohann Michel, a research analyst for defense and military affairs at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the tanks could allow Ukraine to go on the offensive in the 11-month conflict, which has long been stalled after two crucial Ukrainian counteroffensives recaptured areas occupied by Russian forces for months in the northeast and south.
Good news for the front
"As spring approaches, Ukrainian forces are working to defend the territory they control and preparing for additional counterattacks," Biden said. "To liberate their land, they need to be able to counter Russia's evolving tactics and strategies on the battlefield in the very short term."
Several European countries have equipped their armies with Leopard 2 tanks, and Germany's announcement means they can deliver part of their stocks to Ukraine.
"Major German battle tanks, further expansion of support for defense and training missions, green light for partners to supply similar weapons. I just learned of these important and timely decisions in a call with Olaf Scholz," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Twitter. "Sincerely grateful to the chancellor and all our friends in (Germany)."
Ukrainian soldiers at the front welcomed the news and said the decision comes at a critical time.
"The tanks will help reduce casualties among our soldiers... then they will get new results and win this war faster," said Oleksander Syrotiuk, a company commander in the 17th Tank Brigade deployed in Bakhmut.
Ukrainian soldiers and experts said Ukrainian forces are running out of spare parts to repair old Soviet-era tanks and the specific ammunition they require while withstanding relentless bombardment by Russian artillery. An expected Russian spring offensive is also looming.
Although it will be months before their debut, the tanks will allow Ukrainian forces to launch counteroffensives and reduce casualties, three military commanders, including two in the army's tank division, told the AP news agency.
"Without the new tanks, we cannot win this war," said Maksim Butolin, chief sergeant of the 54th Brigade's Tank Division. He spoke to the AP by phone earlier this week from near the Bakhmut front.
Ukrainian forces have had to preserve ammunition and deal with frequent breakdowns and maintenance problems, Syrotiuk said.
"The main problem we have with our tanks is that they are old," he said.
Expressing his preference for the Leopard 2, which he said was more suitable for Ukrainian terrain, Syrotiuk said modern tanks had more precise guidance systems, better armor and equipment to enable night operations.
Scholz spoke by phone Wednesday with Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The exchange focused on the security situation in Ukraine and continued support for Ukraine's struggle.
The five leaders agreed to continue military support to Ukraine in close Euro-Atlantic coordination.
Heavy vehicles, the focus of the next stage
The $400 million package announced Wednesday by the U.S. also includes eight M88 recovery vehicles, vehicles with tank-like tracks that can tow the Abrams if it gets stuck.
In total, France, the UK, the US, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden will send hundreds of tanks and heavy armored vehicles to strengthen Ukraine as it enters a new phase of the war and tries to break through entrenched Russian lines.
While Ukrainian supporters had previously supplied tanks, they were Soviet models in the reserves of countries that were once in Moscow's sphere of influence but are now aligned with the West. Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials insisted their forces need more modern Western-designed tanks.
Russia's ambassador to Germany, Sergey Nechayev, called Berlin's decision "extremely dangerous" and said it "takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation and contradicts statements by German politicians about their reluctance to get involved in it."
Scholz had insisted that any decision to provide Ukraine with powerful tanks should be taken in conjunction with Germany's allies, primarily the US. By getting Washington to commit some of its own tanks, Berlin hopes to share the risk of any Russian backlash.
Ekkehard Brose, head of the German military's Federal Academy for Security Policy, pointed to the deeper historical significance of the decision.
"German-made tanks will once again take on Russian tanks in Ukraine," he said, adding that this was "not an easy idea" for Germany, which takes seriously its responsibility for the horrors of World War II.
"And yet it's the right decision," Brose said, arguing that it was up to Western democracies to help Ukraine stop Russia's military campaign.
How tanks will be deployed on the battlefield
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned that the first tanks would take about three months to deploy in Ukraine. He described the Leopard 2 as "the best battle tank in the world."
The German government said it planned to quickly start training Ukrainian tank crews in Germany. The package being assembled would also include logistics, ammunition and maintenance.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the German and American intentions as "a pretty disastrous plan."
"I am convinced that many specialists understand the absurdity of this idea," Peskov said.
"Simply for technological reasons, this is a pretty disastrous plan. The main thing is that this is a completely obvious overestimation of the potential (the supply of tanks) that would be added to Ukraine's armed forces. It's yet another fallacy, quite profound," the Kremlin official said.
Peskov predicted that "these tanks will burn like everyone else. ... Except they cost a lot, and this will fall on the shoulders of European taxpayers." Added.
Ahead of Scholz's official announcement, members of his tripartite coalition government welcomed the Cabinet's agreement to supply the domestically made tanks.
"The leopard is liberated!" said German lawmaker Katrin Goering-Eckardt, a top Green Party lawmaker.
However, two smaller opposition parties criticized the move. The far-right Alternative for Germany, which has friendly ties to Russia, called the decision "irresponsible and dangerous."
"Germany risks being dragged directly into the war as a result," said party co-leader Tino Chrupalla.
Scholz tried to reassure people in his country who were worried about the implications of sending tanks to Ukraine.
"Trust me, trust the government," he said. "By acting in a coordinated manner at the international level, we will ensure that this support is possible without risks to our country growing in the wrong direction."
Other European nations, including Finland and Spain, indicated their willingness Wednesday to part ways with their own Leopard or similar battle tanks as part of a larger coalition.
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