Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles has confirmed that six German-made Leopard 2 tanks are en route from Spain to Ukraine and are due to arrive within a week, CNN reported on April 23.
Speaking to journalists on April 22, the minister said that the German-made Leopards left the Spanish port city of Santander "along with 20 heavy transport vehicles" and that the travel via the sea was expected to take between five and six days.
“In six days, going through another country, they will be in Ukraine,” Robles said, as cited by CNN.
A week earlier, Robles said that Spain would deliver four more Leopards to Ukraine after repairs “as soon as possible," according to CNN.
The report about the expected arrival of the Spanish Leopards comes as Ukraine says it is preparing for a counteroffensive and awaits more weapons and equipment pledged by Western allies.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently said that more than 230 tanks – including a few dozen Leopard 2 tanks – had already been delivered to Ukraine.
To ease maintenance of tanks, Germany, Poland, and Ukraine on April 21 signed a letter of intent to open a maintenance hub in Poland for Leopard 2 main battle tanks, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, both Ukraine and Russia have relied on Soviet-designed tanks – and Western tanks, such as Leopard 2s, are expected to give Kyiv a major equipment advantage over Moscow.
Francis Farrell
(Updated: )
