This material support comes at the right time. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that “British Challengers, American Strykers and Cougars, as well as German Marders” were “added to the Ukrainian units” on Monday, March 27. The Minister posted a photo of these vehicles in his Facebook post, without saying when exactly they arrived.
A spokeswoman for the Ukrainian ministry, Iryna Zolotar, confirmed to Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the Challenger tanks “are already in Ukraine”, without giving the exact number at this stage.
Ukrainian soldiers have completed their training in the United Kingdom to learn how to handle the 14 Challenger 2 tanks supplied by London to Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, the British Ministry of Defense announced earlier on Monday.
Their training began shortly after the announcement in early January that the UK would supply these tanks. “The United Kingdom is sending the Challenger 2 tanks, which will soon be in the hands of the Ukrainian armed forces,” the British ministry said in a statement at the time. London had previously mentioned a delivery in March, without giving further details on the delivery schedule.
The Ukrainian soldiers thus trained, whose number has not been specified, return to their country “better equipped, but no less in danger”, declared the British Minister of Defense Ben Wallace. “We continue to stand with them and do everything we can to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” he added in a statement.
“I am fighting for my future, for the future of my country and for the future of my family,” said a trained Ukrainian soldier in a video made by British Defence.
Support from the first hour of Ukraine, the United Kingdom also announced at the beginning of February that it would train Ukrainian fighter pilots, opening the door in the long term to the supply of planes to NATO standards.
Westerners believe Ukraine has the right to defend itself, but some are reluctant to deliver weapons that would escalate the conflict by allowing Ukraine to hit Russia. Slovakia recently delivered four MiG-29s to Ukraine and Poland has promised to do the same.
