BERLIN/KYIV — Germany announced plans on Wednesday to deliver heavy tanks to Ukraine, and the United States was poised to do so too, a breakthrough hailed as a…
Kyiv has been calling for months for Western main battle tanks that would give its forces greater firepower, protection and mobility to break through Russian defensive lines and potentially swoop through territory occupied by the invaders.Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Twenty armies worldwide field Leopards, which Germany has made in their thousands. Poland and Finland have already pledged them once Berlin agrees, and several other countries are expected to follow swiftly. Britain has already offered a company of its comparable Challengers and France is considering sending its Leclercs.Article content
In the past week, Russia has ramped up its threats, with Dmitry Medvedev, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, saying openly that a nuclear power that faced defeat could use nuclear weapons.Article content Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki tweeted a message of thanks to Scholz for a “big step towards stopping Russia.”
The pledges of recent weeks already include hundreds of Western armored fighting vehicles and troop carriers, seen as more effective in attacking when combined with tanks to burst through enemy lines.In the 11 months since it invaded, Russia has killed thousands of civilians, forced millions from their homes and reduced entire cities to rubble.
But Moscow still occupies around a sixth of Ukraine, and has declared this territory part of Russia. Ukraine says it will not stop fighting until it recaptures all its territory.
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