With the delivery of the first six Spanish Leopard 2 A4 main battle tanks to Ukraine due, the Minister of Defence, Daisy Robles and various Spanish military commanders sat down this Wednesday with the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikovon tour in various countries of Western Europe.
The meeting was more political than technical, to review the military aid delivered by Spain to Ukraine, but also to talk about the progress of the war, as well as possible deadlines for the delivery of another four tanks -the plus promised by Pedro Sanchez during his visit to Kiev – which are currently being reconditioned and reassembled at the Santa Bárbara factory in Seville.
There is still time for the delivery of that second package. Nobody expects them to be available before the end of May, since putting back into operation the old Leopards that the Army had stored and distributing parts in its Casetas (Zaragoza) warehouse requires nearly 4,000 hours of work for each vehicle.
The jobs are both to revive the cars and to homologate them with the other Leopard 2 that will be delivered by other European countries and make them compatible on the battlefield. Although there are no official confirmations or details about their use, the Spanish tanks are destined to be deployed, according to all military forecasts, in war actions in Donbas. To do this, they have been trained in a training camp in Toledo first ten Ukrainian crews of these tanksa total of 55 soldiers who finished receiving express training on March 13.
missiles and vehicles
Minister Reznikov was accompanied by Admiral Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Navy, Olegsii Neyzhpapaand its director of international military cooperation, in addition to the ambassador in Spain himself, Serhii Pohoreltsev. On the Spanish side, three senior Navy chiefs have sat down: the Chief of the Defense Staff, Admiral Teodoro Esteban López Calderónthe Secretary General of Defense Policy, Admiral Juan Francisco Martinez Nunez, and the second Chief of Defense Staff. admiral carlos martinez Merello.
Up to now, in addition to the contribution of tanks, Spain has delivered to Ukraine Aspide, Mistral and Hawk anti-aircraft missiles with their batteries, 105/14 howitzers, armored vehicles for transporting troops on tracks, twenty other light vehicles and heavy cargo vehicles, ambulances, five naval defense systems and unspecified amounts of artillery ammunition of calibers 105 and 155 mm, small arms and Spanish-made C90 anti-tank grenade launchers.
Related news
The Ukrainian delegation is also planning a visit to the Gómez Ulla Military Defense Hospital in Madrid, where they will decorate its director and that of the General Defense Hospital in Zaragoza as a gesture of gratitude for the humanitarian aid, especially surgical and psychological, provided seriously wounded Ukrainian servicemen.
Minister Reznikov starred in weeks of speculation in his country during the month of February, about a possible relief by the head of intelligence of the kyiv government, after an alleged case of corruption whose implication has not been proven was disseminated.