Mn Tuesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) bowed to pressure from international partners with the surprising announcement of the delivery of Gepard tanks to Ukraine. Germany was one of the last countries to refuse direct deliveries of heavy weapons to Kyiv. It had previously become known that Germany had last delivered significant weapons to Ukraine at the end of March. In the three weeks that followed, only spare parts, grenades and “igniters” were delivered, according to a Ukrainian list available to WELT.
But just one day after the Chancellor’s about-face, it was unclear how quickly the German Gepard tanks would be available to Ukraine. Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) informed the Defense Committee of the Bundestag on Wednesday, but was unable to provide any information on the time of delivery, as WELT learned from groups of participants. Other countries act faster and more decisively. An overview.
USA
In the past two weeks alone, US President Joe Biden has twice announced military aid worth $800 million each. In some cases, the Pentagon delivered the material in less than 48 hours. The latest aid packages include 121 tactical drones. The US has already supplied hundreds of armored vehicles, around 184,000 artillery shells, almost 6,000 Javelins anti-tank weapons and almost 2,000 Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems. In addition, the United States wants to send at least 11 Russian Mi-17 military helicopters, which were previously owned by the ousted Afghan government and had been serviced in Ukraine for years. Almost 40 million rounds of small arms ammunition, a good 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns and 400 shotguns have already been delivered. The USA also provided shells, mortars and artillery shells. They have not yet delivered tanks. Daniel Friedrich Sturm
Great Britain
The British were the first Europeans to begin supplying Ukraine with defensive arms in mid-January. London continues to confront Moscow. Foreign Minister Liz Truss announced on Wednesday evening that the west of Ukraine would have to do even more to help. “Heavy weapons, tanks, planes – we need to dig deep into our equipment, boost production,” the Conservative said. “We will act faster and go further to oust Russia from all of Ukraine.” An announcement that could also include Crimea.
As the second phase of the war takes place in open country, the British want to supply longer-range artillery systems, as well as anti-ship missiles and drones. In the past week alone, another thousand NLAW man-portable anti-tank missiles and 200 Javelin missiles have been delivered to Kyiv. Most recently, the government announced that it would send a small number of Stormer heavy infantry fighting vehicles that can be armed with Starstreak missile launchers. Starstreaks have been stepping up Ukraine’s anti-aircraft warfare for several weeks. 120 armored vehicles, such as the Mastiff type, also help. The deliveries have so far cost the British budget the equivalent of around 520 million euros. London is also prepared to make combat aircraft available to NATO partners such as Poland should Warsaw cede its machines to Kyiv. Stephanie Bolt
Eastern Europe
Even before Russia attacked Ukraine, support was already strong. Lithuania already delivered Stinger anti-tank missiles to Kyiv in mid-February. According to the Defense Ministry, since the beginning of the war, Vilnius has delivered other anti-tank systems, air defense systems, drones and air surveillance radars.
The list of deliveries presented by the Estonian Ministry of Defense at WELT’s request is also long. Estonia supplied Javelin anti-tank weapons to Kyiv since the beginning of the war. At the end of February, the federal government had granted approval for the delivery of nine howitzers from old GDR stocks from the Estonian stocks with a delay. They were delivered on April 4th. The first NATO country to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine was Czech Republic. According to media reports, the government in Prague sent Soviet-designed armored personnel carriers and main battle tanks to Kyiv at the beginning of April. Wheeled howitzers from the Czech Republic are also already in use in the Ukraine, such as video recordings should show.
The greatest support comes from Poland. The arms shipments are said to be worth $1.6 billion. According to Ukrainian information, mortars, Javelin anti-tank missiles and even drones, among other things, were delivered from Poland on February 25 alone. According to Polish media reports, Soviet T-72 main battle tanks and BWP-1 infantry fighting vehicles are now also in Ukraine.
the Slovakia donated the S-300 anti-missile and air defense system worth around 68 million euros. In a ring exchange with Germany Slovenia deliver Soviet T-72 main battle tanks to Kyiv. The Slovenian army will receive modern replacements from Germany. Mandolin Rutkowski
Italy
Officially, the list of weapons that the Italian government is deciding to make available to Ukraine is secret. Nevertheless, Italian newspapers reported details at the weekend: The second delivery of weapons since the beginning of the war in Ukraine is said to be a “qualitative leap forward”, according to the newspaper Corriere della Sera reported. This means heavier weapons, such as artillery vehicles. In addition to the Stinger missiles, which were already included in the first delivery, this could include M109 self-propelled howitzers with a 155 mm caliber and modern PzH2000 self-propelled howitzers made in Germany. Virginia Kirst
France
France has long kept a low profile when it comes to arms deliveries. Numerous inquiries were left unanswered with reference to military secrecy. At the end of last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the delivery of heavy weapons for the first time. In an interview he spoke of “considerable equipment” being supplied, including Caesar howitzers. It is a 155mm howitzer with a range of 40 kilometers. According to information from the regional newspaper “Ouest France”, France is supplying twelve of the 77 guns from the army’s inventory. Around 40 Ukrainian soldiers are to be trained on howitzers in France. Martin Master
Turkey
The Turkish combat drone called Bayraktar is so popular in Ukraine that the army even dedicated a song to it. “Sheep came to us from the East to ‘restore a great empire,'” it says, “but the best shepherds for flocks of sheep are Bayraktar.” This is underlined music video with images allegedly showing the drones blowing up Russian tanks. Reuters news agency reports that Ukraine has bought more than 20 Bayraktar TB2 armed drones from the Turkish company Baykar in recent years and ordered another 16 in January. Accordingly, they were delivered in March. Although there is no official information on deliveries during the war, according to the Association of Turkish Exporters (TIM), the value of exports grew from $1.9 million in the previous year to $59.1 million. Carolina Drueten
