On the day of the first anniversary of the start of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Polish President Andréj Duda announced this Friday (02/24) that the country had sent the first Leopard tanks to Kiev.

The Polish Minister of Defense, Mariusz Blaszczak, clarified that these were four vehicles of the Leopard 2 A4 model, manufactured in Germany. Along with the delivery, according to Blaszczak, Ukrainian soldiers will be trained by Polish, Canadian and Norwegian instructors at a training center in the Polish town of Swietoszow.

At a meeting of the National Security Council on Friday, Duda said he was happy that Poland was the first country to deliver modern armored vehicles to Ukraine.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited Kyiv on Friday and said more tanks would be sent soon. “I have come here today not only with words of support, but also with the awareness that we must respond with force to this barbaric aggression,” he said.

Morawiecki attended an extraordinary session of the Ukrainian parliament and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He also visited Polish Embassy officials and several hospitalized combatants, and paid tribute to war victims at a memorial in the city center.

Last week, Poland’s prime minister said the country had already delivered 250 tanks to Ukraine, mostly T-72 models, made in the Soviet Union and modernized in Poland, and planned to send another 60 as well. with adaptations.

As a neighbor of Ukraine, Poland is particularly affected by the aftermath of the war. On Tuesday and Wednesday, US President Joe Biden traveled to Warsaw and met with, among others, representatives of the nine NATO countries in Eastern Europe and the NATO Secretary General , Jens Stoltenberg.

German guarantee for export

The Polish Defense Minister stressed that cooperation with Germany plays an important role in Poland’s action. The two countries each want to deliver 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Prior to German approval, Poland pressured Germany to allow deliveries.

On January 11, during a visit to Lviv, Ukraine, Duda announced that Poland had decided to send Leopard tanks to the Ukrainians, but for that he needed the approval of Germany, the automaker .

On January 25, after months of hesitation, Germany decided to send Leopard 2s to Ukraine, in addition to allowing other countries to do the same.

At the beginning of February, Germany also announced the shipment to Ukraine of Leopard 1 models, manufactured from the mid-1960s and withdrawn by the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).

With Dw information