The Ukrainians could not take the tanks that came broken from Germany – mass media

Ukraine recently refused to accept a batch of 10 Leopard 1A5 tanks from Germany, explaining this by the fact that they need repair, and the Ukrainian side does not have technicians and spare parts for this, writes Spiegel.

Kyiv informed the special headquarters of the German Ministry of Defense that the German Leopard tanks , which arrived in Poland, need repair, and some of them – capital.

The German side sent a group of experts to Poland to inspect the tanks themselves. There it turned out that they “were already badly worn during the training of Ukrainian soldiers in Germany and needed repair,” writes Spiegel.

In addition, several of the ten Leopard 1A5s that arrived in Ukraine in July, were out of order due to similar problems, the newspaper adds.

The German Ministry of Defense told Spiegel that they could not comment on a “concrete individual case” and added that the Leopard tanks are being repaired “in cooperation with Ukraine” after intensive training in Germany”.

The publication adds that the situation with the Leopard 1A5 tanks – of which Germany promised to transfer a hundred – reflects problems in planning the logistics of German military aid.

The tanks stuck in Poland are the second tranche of a planned large-scale delivery of Leopard 1A5 tanks. They were withdrawn from the service of the Bundeswehr more than ten years ago. But since many units of this equipment are still stored in industrial warehouses, gunsmiths were instructed to repair them as soon as possible.

Prepared by: Nina Petrovych