British Challenger tanks have arrived in Ukraine, a defense ministry spokeswoman in Kiev said on Monday.
“They are already in Ukraine,” Irina Zolotar, the official representative of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, told Agence France-Presse, without giving details.
The tanks are expected to be involved in the spring counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Ukraine’s defense minister said on Monday he inspected a “new addition” to the armed forces’ arsenal – Challenger tanks, German Marder infantry fighting vehicles and US Cougar armored personnel carriers and Stryker.
“A year ago, no one could have imagined that the support of our partners would be so strong,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov wrote on Facebook.
He praised the British ‘Challengers’, calling them ‘art of war’.
On Monday, the British government said Ukrainian crews, which have been trained to use Challenger 2 tanks donated by the UK, are now ready to be deployed to the front lines.
“Ukrainian tank crews have completed their Challenger 2 tank training in the UK and returned home to continue the fight against the illegal and unprovoked Russian invasion,” the UK Ministry of Defense said in a statement. .
The exercise began shortly after London announced in January that it would send 14 tanks to the front lines.
Crews learned to command, control tanks and “effectively identify and hit targets”, the UK MoD said, calling it a “qualitative change” in the capabilities of Ukraine’s armed forces.
“It’s truly inspiring to see the determination of Ukrainian soldiers trained on British Challenger 2 tanks on British soil,” said Defense Secretary Ben Wallace. “We will continue to support them and do our best to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Lieutenant-Colonel John Stone, who led the training programme, said the British instructors were “very impressed with the level of skill” displayed by the Ukrainian crews.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Moscow would be “forced to react” if Britain kept its promise to supply Ukraine with armour-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium.
