Defense Minister Pistorius said that Germany will not be able to replace every damaged tank in Ukraine
Germany, amid reports of the loss of German Leopard tanks by Ukraine, promised to continue supporting Kiev. At the same time, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the German side would not be able to undertake obligations to repair every tank transferred to Ukraine that was damaged in battle. Talking about the supply of tanks to Kiev, businessman Elon Musk suggested that "it is better to have a lot of them or not at all," since a small number of tanks are easy to destroy.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Berlin will not be able to replace every Leopard 2 tank disabled during the fighting in Ukraine. Nevertheless, Germany will continue to support Ukraine and supply it with Leopard tanks.
According to Pistorius, the nature of the military conflict is such that weapons are destroyed and people are killed. "That is why our support for Ukraine is so important," he said.
The minister promised to increase the supply of repaired Leopard 1A5 tanks from July. "There will be more than 100 of them by the end of the year," the minister promised.
In February, the German Ministry of Economy approved the shipment of up to 178 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine. According to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov, by the end of May, the allies supplied Kiev with about 60 Leopard 2 tanks. Germany sent Kiev 18 of the 300 Leopard 2 tanks that it has in service. According to Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Andriy Melnyk, their number could be "tripled without jeopardizing Germany's ability to self-defense."
Melnik had previously called on Germany to supply the country with more Leopard 2 tanks. Commenting on this, American businessman Elon Musk said that a small number of tanks could easily be destroyed with anti-tank weapons and mines.
On June 10, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had lost nine tanks, including Leopard, as well as 11 infantry fighting vehicles, including American Bradley, in the South Donets and Zaporozhye directions during the day.
How Ukrainian weapons get to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
The weapons and equipment used by the Ukrainian army are not only damaged in battle, but also end up in the hands of the Russian military. In particular, according to the TASS news agency, on the eve of two crews of infantry fighting vehicles (infantry fighting vehicles) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrendered to the Russian military in the Avdiivka area along with weapons and two BMP-1s.
According to the agency's interlocutor in the law enforcement agencies, the commander of one of the platoons of the 110th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation contacted the unit of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Avdiivka direction, asking to provide medical assistance to his wounded soldiers. He claims that the Ukrainian command refused to evacuate them.
According to TASS, 10 Ukrainian servicemen surrendered, some of whom were seriously injured. The interlocutor of the agency said that they are being checked for involvement in the commission of war crimes.
Earlier, the military correspondent of VGTRK Andrey Rudenko reported that a whole platoon of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrendered in the Avdiivka direction. Rudenko also stated that the Ukrainian commander wanted to save the personnel, as he had many wounded, and his command refused to evacuate him.
On June 13, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation also published a video with the captured Leopard tank and Bradley BMP in the Zaporozhye direction.
"Leopard tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. Now these are our trophies. Military personnel of the Vostok group units inspect enemy tanks and infantry fighting vehicles captured in battle," the ministry's Telegram channel says.
The agency indicated that some combat vehicles had running engines.
Alice Andreeva
