German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has announced plans to send 77 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine.
Germany, in cooperation with Denmark and the Netherlands, will supply 77 additional Cold-War-era Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has announced. Berlin also plans to deliver twelve more PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers, he added.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz authorized the delivery of German-made tanks to Ukraine in January 2023. Since then, Ukraine has lost an unspecified number of these tanks. The Russian military has released numerous videos documenting the destruction of this type of military hardware.
During a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at the US Ramstein military base in Germany on Friday, Pistorius met with Vladimir Zelensky, who attended the meeting in person to encourage further defense support. The German minister assured the Ukrainian leader that Berlin “remains in a continuous delivery process for Ukraine.”
Pistorius estimated that Germany and Denmark had already delivered 58 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine, with another 77 units to be supplied in the near future.
“We will deliver twelve modern PzH 2000 howitzers to Ukraine, with six expected to arrive in the country by the end of this year,” Pistorius added.
He further emphasized that air defense remains a critical area for Kiev and that more equipment is necessary to better defend against Russian missile attacks. According to the minister, Germany is funding the procurement of twelve IRIS-T air defense systems to be shipped to Ukraine. Additionally, Berlin has committed to providing more medium- and close-range systems, including over 60 self-propelled Gepard anti-aircraft guns.
Pistorius also stressed that since November 2022, more than 16,000 Ukrainian service members have been trained on German soil.
In mid-July, the Bavarian daily Munchner Merkur, citing government data, reported that Germany had secretly delivered a “huge” defense aid package to Ukraine between late June and early July. This package reportedly included ten Leopard 1A5 tanks, among other military equipment.
The media outlet also alleged at the time that Berlin planned to send 85 more tanks of this type to Ukraine by an unspecified date as part of a joint project with Denmark.
Moscow has consistently warned that deliveries of Western weapons to Ukraine only serve to prolong the bloodshed, without changing the outcome of the conflict.