Story by Daria Dmytriieva
Ukraine has refused a new tranche of Leopard 1 tanks from Germany © RBC-Ukraine
Ukraine has declined to accept a shipment of 10 German Leopard tanks due to their poor condition and the need for repairs, according to Spiegel. According to the information from the agency, Ukraine sent a group of experts to the Polish city of Zeszow a few days ago to inspect the German Leopard tanks intended for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
It was discovered on-site that the vehicles were heavily worn during training for Ukrainian soldiers in Germany and needed repairs. Moreover, as clarified by Spiegel, several of the ten Leopard 1A5 tanks that were already transferred to Ukraine in July experienced similar issues and became inoperable. Germany had promised to provide Ukraine with over a hundred Leopard 1A5 tanks. These tanks had been retired from the Bundeswehr's arsenal nearly ten years ago. However, as many of the models were still in storage, experts quickly restored them to working condition.
One wonders at how the parts support for those tanks, of an older model, will stand up to operations.