Vladimir Putin will probably not be happy about this: Ukraine will soon receive the next large delivery of Leopard 2 tanks from NATO.
They have a high symbolic significance in the Ukraine war: Leopard 2 tanks. And they are urgently needed: Germany recently delivered a further 39 tanks to Ukraine in a weapons shipment, including ten Leopard 1A5 battle tanks and twenty Marder infantry fighting vehicles.
To defend against the insidious attack by Russia, which was illegal under international law. At the same time, in mid-July, Kiev received ten more modern Leopard 2A4 battle tanks from Spain, which Madrid handed over during this period.
According to the Reuters news agency, the Dutch Ministry of Defense confirmed on Thursday (July 25th) that the Netherlands and NATO partner Denmark will also deliver 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine by the end of the summer.
The tanks were and are being repaired by the German arms company Rheinmetall - paid for by the two EU countries.
The battle tanks, dating from the mid-1980s, come from the respective armed forces' stocks and were extensively refurbished, overhauled and tested for their operational readiness on the battlefield by Rheinmetall on behalf of The Hague and Copenhagen.
The deliveries come at a time when the Ukrainian army is once again in serious trouble against Russian troops in the Donbass.
According to the open source intelligence website Oryx, Putin's invasion troops have now (as of July 26) lost at least 3,267 battle tanks on the battlefields between Kharkiv, Donetsk and Zaporizhia.
According to the same source, the Ukrainians lost 869 battle tanks. These included (as of July 26) 21 Leopard 2A4 and eleven comparatively modern Leopard 2A6.
Germany (18) and Portugal (3) had together provided a total of 21 'Leos' 2A6. More than half of them are therefore no longer operational.
Oryx documents military losses using photos and videos and compares them with maps.
The US news magazine Forbes reported in the spring that Madrid wanted to provide 20 'Leos' 2A4.
According to Forbes, the number of Leopard 2A4s delivered by NATO should increase with the 20 Spanish 'Leos'.
That would currently be 64 plus the 14 Leopard 2A4s from the Netherlands and Denmark, making a total of 78, of which 21 were destroyed by the Russian military.
Together with the 21 Leopard 2A6s mentioned above and the four Leo 2R mine clearers, Ukraine would have received a total of 103 Leopard 2 tanks from former German production.
Neither Kiev nor the NATO defense alliance have yet given an official number of Leopard 2s delivered in total.
The 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks promised to Ukraine last year by Denmark and the Netherlands will be delivered to Ukraine before the end of the summer, the Dutch Minister of Defense announced this Thursday, July 25.
Kiev 'urgently needs more military support, given the heavy fighting on the battlefield,' said Ruben Brekelmans.
Denmark and the Netherlands announced last year the purchase of this military equipment for 165 million euros.
In recent months, they have been 'refurbished and tested', according to the Dutch government.
Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark had promised Ukraine 'at least' 100 Leopard 1 A5 tanks, old models of armored combat vehicles, in 2023.
Ukraine, which suffers from a shortage of men and weapons compared to the Russian army, is seeking to mobilize the European and American defense industry to help its army.
