Russia calls Western tank supplies to Ukraine “direct involvement” in the conflict
“They want to reconquer Crimea with the leopard, bloggers on Telegram suspect”
After the announcement by Germany and the USA that they would supply main battle tanks, there was speculation as to how these would be used. Moscow correspondent Christoph Wanner evaluated the information from a Telegram channel linked to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Russia has described the supply of main battle tanks to Ukraine announced by the US and Germany and other European countries as “direct involvement” in the conflict. This participation is increasing, said the Office of the President in Moscow.
Nfter the decision to supply main battle tanks to Ukraine, the Kremlin believes that the West is increasingly making itself a war party. “Everything that the Alliance and the capitals I mentioned (Europe and the US) do is seen in Moscow as direct involvement in the conflict,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. Moscow also sees that “this is increasing,” he added. Russia has repeatedly accused the US and EU of waging a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.
Nevertheless, Russia will not declare war, said Peskov. Russia continues to call the invasion of Ukraine a “military special operation” and its status will not change.
On Wednesday morning, after much hesitation, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced the delivery of German Leopard tanks to Ukraine. According to the government, 14 tanks from Bundeswehr stocks are to be made available to Kyiv as a first step. According to a government spokesman, Germany will also allow partner countries to deliver their own Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
Several European countries said they would support the deliveries. For its part, the USA announced the delivery of 31 M1 Abrams main battle tanks.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz later defended the commitment in an interview. “No, absolutely not,” Scholz replied when asked whether Germany would become a war party.
Despite the opposing view in the Kremlin, the Russian leadership still refuses to declare its own invasion of Ukraine a war. So far, President Vladimir Putin has only imposed martial law with the corresponding restrictions on civil rights in the four annexed Ukrainian regions. However, since the beginning of the war, the Russian parliament has tightened numerous laws that have further restricted people’s freedoms.
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