“Bottom reached” – tanks for Ukraine: Moscow warns of escalation

The Ukrainian government immediately welcomed the plans announced on Tuesday evening as a possible turning point in the war. The tanks would become “a real democracy fist,” Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, wrote on Telegram.

Germany supplies Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 A6 main battle tanks. This was announced by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the federal cabinet on Wednesday. In addition, the German government has allowed other states to supply their own Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Months of debate preceded the decision.

alarmed Russia
Russia warned that supplying Western main battle tanks would escalate the war. The United States’ delivery of main battle tanks would be “another blatant provocation,” Russian U.S. Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said Wednesday. “It is clear that Washington is deliberately trying to inflict strategic defeat on us,” he added on Telegram. “If the United States decides to supply tanks, then you absolutely cannot justify such a move with the ‘defensive weapons’ argument.”

German-Russian relations at an all time low
Russian President spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke to journalists on Tuesday about possible German deliveries of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

According to Peskow, German-Russian relations are currently at an all-time low anyway. “There is no substantive dialogue with Germany and with other countries of the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance,” he stressed. In addition, he said possible tank deliveries to Ukraine would be “not good for future relations” between Moscow and Berlin and would leave “inevitable traces”.

West entered an “almost real war” against Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that the US and its allies have already entered an “almost real war” against Russia. According to him, the West has been preparing for this for a long time and is trying to destroy the Russian language and culture in Ukraine. The minister also accuses NATO, the EU and the US of standing in the way of a solution to the conflict.

Moscow has repeatedly indicated that supplying arms to Ukraine would only exacerbate the conflict. The Russian Foreign Ministry then accused the German media on Twitter of creating anti-Russian sentiment – ​​to distract the population from the deteriorating economic situation in the country.

Inferior to the Russian “T90”.
The chairman of the defense committee of the Russian parliament, Andrei Kartapolov, described on Russian state television that the German Leopard 2 main battle tanks were more effective than the American Abrams tanks in some areas. However, in terms of firepower and armor protection, they are inferior to the Russian T90.

The Russian tanks had also been tested during the military operation and had shown themselves “from their best side”. According to Kartapolov, the delivery of Leopard to Ukraine will not fundamentally change the war situation.

However, since the beginning of the Russian offensive war in Ukraine, Western secret services and the media have assessed the quality of Russian equipment as lousy. There are also numerous reports of some Soviet-era rusty weapons used in the war.

Kiev has been asking for battle tanks for months
Ukraine has been asking for Western tanks for months, which it says it needs to give its forces more firepower and mobility. They need it to break through the Russian defense lines and recapture areas. Western states have already promised Ukraine several tank models, but no Western-style main battle tanks so far. Germany played a central role in the debate, as German-built Leopard tanks are used by about 20 armies.