![]() Current and former Ukrainian officials said the West can still do more to arm the country ahead of what is expected to be a decisive new chapter in the war. ![]() In the eyes of Ukrainians, the new spate of Western arms transfers is a welcome shift but still not enough. Rheinmetall’s chief executive, Armin Papperger, disputed this argument, saying they could be trained in a matter of days. Some German officials have balked at the idea, believing it would take too long to train the Ukrainians, who are versed in post-Soviet weapons systems common in Eastern Europe, on the Western-made battle tanks. That debate has reportedly sparked rifts within the ruling coalition in Germany.Ī top German arms manufacturer, Rheinmetall, said earlier this week it stood ready to supply up to 50 used Leopard 1 battle tanks to Ukraine, but the German government has yet to greenlight the arms transfer. Others, particularly some politicians in Germany, fear that upgrading Ukraine’s military with heavy weapons could turn the West into a target for further Russian aggression. The logistical complications have prompted some Western governments to withhold delivering larger supplies of heavy vehicles to Ukraine, despite pleas from top Ukrainian officials for more support for their outgunned and outmanned forces. “This is equipment that Ukrainians probably are already familiar with, so the time to train on it would be relatively quick,” Hodges said. defense official said on Monday that several allied nations were still considering delivering tanks to Ukraine, mostly Soviet-era variants that troops in Kyiv had already been trained on. “Whenever you’re talking about transferring any sort of mechanized or armored vehicles, you have to also think about spare parts, maintenance packages, training, fuel, ammunition … to make sure they can keep things running.” “The tank is not just a rental car,” said Ben Hodges, former commanding general of the U.S. and NATO weapons deliveries headed into Ukraine.) In addition to the heavy vehicles and weapons themselves, any such transfers to Ukraine require a potentially long logistical tail to back up, including training, spare parts, and mechanics to keep the vehicles operating in the war zone. The transfer of heavy weapons to Ukraine is far from simple. That all changed after Russia’s massive offensive in northern Ukraine ran aground, thanks to stiff Ukrainian resistance backed by Western supplies of anti-tank weapons and other small arms, as well as clumsy tactical missteps by the poorly equipped Russian forces. That shipment includes 11 MI-17 helicopters, 200 M113 armored personnel carriers, 100 Humvees, 300 Switchblade “kamikaze” drones, heavy howitzers, thousands of shells, and other munitions.ĭuring the first phase of the war, many Western officials believed Kyiv could quickly fall to Russian forces in a matter of days, prompting them to balk on sending heavy weapons to a government they were unsure could survive. Slovakia sent Ukraine an advanced S-300 air defense system, and the United States on Wednesday announced it would supply Ukraine with an additional $800 million worth of military hardware. ![]() Other NATO countries have followed suit with their own shipments of high-end military hardware across NATO borders into Ukraine. The Czech Republic has also sent Ukraine infantry fighting vehicles and artillery systems. The Czech Republic opened the floodgates earlier this month by shipping tanks to Ukraine, becoming the first NATO country to do so since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. The deliveries also reflect a shift away from defensive systems like anti-tank rockets to more offensive weapons that Ukraine needs at a critical stage of the war. and European officials, unsure of how long Ukraine could hold out against a massive Russian invasion, were wary of delivering heavy weapons that could in turn fall into Russian hands. The new arms deliveries represent a stark shift from Western support for Ukraine in the earliest days of the war, when U.S. The United States and its NATO allies have ramped up the delivery of tanks, helicopters, and heavy weapons to Ukraine as the country’s forces prepare for large-scale battles against Russian troops in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
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