Russia points out limitations of Ukraine's 'trump card' in counterattack

The Russian news agency Pravda reported that the tanks that the West donated to Ukraine had not undergone thorough inspections. Accordingly, many tanks in storage had not been used for many years" or "had only been repaired superficially before being shipped to Ukraine".

German-made Leopard 2A6 tank. Photo: Getty

Ukraine has repeatedly appealed to the West for support of main battle tanks, including Leopards, before they approved the delivery in January 2023. While Ukraine’s military inventory is largely Soviet-era tanks, the NATO-standard tanks would mark a significant upgrade in capabilities. Several countries, including Canada, Poland and Portugal, have also pledged to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

However, some of the tanks taken from the arsenal have raised questions about their combat readiness in the front line. Before Berlin pledged to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the head of German military manufacturer Rheinmetall said the stock of Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks “must be completely disassembled and remanufactured”.

The Russian newspaper did not specify which type of Leopard tank did not meet Ukraine's needs.

Pravda quoted an unnamed source as saying that Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that "some tanks could not make their first steps and the supplied artillery ammunition was of low quality."

"The Leopard 2A4 has had some problems and does not perform as well as advertised," said Marina Miron, a researcher at the Department of War Studies at Imperial College London, UK.

“That means we don’t know what changes need to be made before shipping them to Ukraine,” the expert commented, while assessing that the Leopard 2A6 models are likely to be “more powerful.”

In late 2022, a senior German military official assessed that “the question of combat readiness of vehicles has become a lottery.” Several recent reports said that a Leopard tank turret operated by the Ukrainian army during training in Poland had been detached from the chassis.

In late February, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles told La Vanguardia that several Leopard 2A4 tanks were being stored in poor conditions at a military facility in Zaragoza, northeastern Spain, and therefore needed immediate repair.

Earlier in April, she said the delivery of six Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine would take place in the second half of this month. Four more tanks are expected to be delivered after repairs.

In early February 2023, Forbes reported: "There are many old Leopard 2 tanks in European arsenals, but most of them are decades old and in need of repair."

In late March, Berlin confirmed it would supply 18 Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine.

"I am sure they can do something important on the battlefield," said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.

Ukraine is expected to use Western-supplied tanks in its upcoming spring offensive, but Kiev has not released any details about its military plans in recent weeks.

In late March, Mr. Reznikov said the tanks would be deployed “in a counterattack, according to the decision of the General Staff” but that it would depend on “the most suitable moment”./.