The Russian embassy in Germany said on Jan. 25 that Berlin’s decision to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine is “extremely dangerous” and takes the war to a “new level of confrontation.”
Russia has repeatedly warned Western nations against supplying tanks and other weapons to Ukraine, claiming that they would “regret” sending them. Russian officials and propagandists are routinely using nuclear bluff and threatening to attack NATO countries but these threats have failed to materialize.
Moscow’s reaction came shortly after Germany confirmed that it would provide Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 tanks and allow other countries to send Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.
ABC News reported on Jan. 24, citing sources familiar with the matter, that there were 12 countries ready to give about 100 Leopards to Ukraine if Germany greenlights it.
As opposed to Soviet tanks, which Ukraine and Russia use on the battlefield, Western tanks’ mobility and increased firepower could help Ukrainians to liberate more territories.
“Western states’ provision of main battle tanks to Ukraine will help enable Ukraine to conduct mechanized warfare to defeat the Russian military and liberate Ukrainian territory,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. defense think-tank, said in its. Jan. 24 report.
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