Poland sends the first Leopard tanks to Ukraine

On Friday, February 24, Poland will send Ukraine the first batch of the promised Leopard 2 tanks. This is reported by Bloomberg, citing an anonymous representative of the Polish authorities.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will inform about the start of deliveries during his visit to Kiev, the source said. In total, Warsaw promised to deliver 14 tanks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

In January, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany would send 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and would also allow other countries that had adopted German tanks to export them to Ukraine.

According to Berlin’s plans, Ukraine should receive two battalions of Leopard 2 tanks – more than 60 tanks. One battalion, created by Germany, will consist of more advanced Leopard 2A6 models, the other, created by Poland, will consist of Leopard 2AF.

At the Munich Security Conference, Scholz rebuked Germany’s allies for failing to keep their promises and delaying the delivery of tanks. Only Portugal agreed to send three tanks of the latest Leopard 2A6 model. Spain has 239 Leopard 2A6 tanks, but needs them for its own defense.

Poland was more successful in organizing the 2nd AF battalion. Spain will supply six such tanks, Norway eight, Canada four.

On Thursday, February 23, the Finnish Ministry of Defense promised to send three Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and train soldiers to operate them. In Berlin, it was hoped that Helsinki, whose army had 200 Leopard 2 tanks, would be able to contribute more. However, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö confirmed that Finland’s contribution would be relatively small, considering the length of its border with Russia (1,340 km) and the fact that it is the only non-NATO country with these tanks.