(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Slava Ukraini: Ukraine receives first Western tanks, with more to come [1] ['Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags', 'Showtags Popular_Tags'] Date: 2023-02-24 x Перші чотири Leopard 2 в Україні pic.twitter.com/voowYDVd75 — Українська правда ✌️ (@ukrpravda_news) February 24, 2023 Morawiecki said he had brought the first four Leopard tanks from Poland so Ukraine “could defeat as quickly as possible the Russian aggressors. Thank you for your courage and struggle.” Reznikov said: “I am glad to welcome the first `beasts’ in our Ukrainian military-technical zoo! We are looking forward to being able to welcome more `kittens.’” x Leopard 2 tanks are already in #Ukraine. Together with Prime Minister @MorawieckiM, we met the first tanks provided by partners. We are grateful to Poland 🇵🇱 for the decisive steps that bring 🇺🇦 closer to victory. We are waiting for the expansion of the tank coalition. pic.twitter.com/Brs2iuNelt — Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) February 24, 2023 The four tanks are the first of 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks that Poland has pledged to send Ukraine. Morawiecki has also promised to send 60 modernized PT-91 tanks. The PT-91 is a Polish-made battle tank developed from the Soviet-era T-72 range that came into service in the 1990s. Last year, Poland sent 250 Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine. Morawiecki also met in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Poland and Europe stand by your side. We will definitely not leave you, we will support Ukraine until complete victory over Russia,” Morawiecki said, standing alongside Zelenskyy, at a joint news conference after their meeting. Morawiecki also explained that Ukrainian tankers are receiving intensive training on how to operate the Leopard 2s. Just weeks after Germany gave the green light for the Leopard 2s to be sent to Ukraine, more than 100 Ukrainian troops worked with Polish, Norwegian, and Canadian instructors at the Swietoszow Military Base in western Poland, one of NATO’s main tank training centers in Europe. "Our instructors are very impressed with how quickly Ukrainian tankers master modern tanks," Morawiecki said. "We can transfer our next Leopard tanks very quickly. But also in the next few days we will transfer very good PT-91 tanks and the next 60 tanks will arrive in Ukraine," he added. Morawiecki said he had also held conversations about transferring modern tanks to Ukraine with the prime ministers of Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, as well as the German chancellor. At the news conference, Morawiecki said that Poland is also ready to train Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, but he said this must be agreed upon within a broader coalition. "If we talk about the fact that we are ready to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, then yes, we are ready to conduct such exercises on F-16 fighters in Poland," he said. He added that it is very important the “Ukrainian sky is finally safe.” x PM @MorawieckiM handed on the first 🇵🇱 Leopard tanks to #Ukraine. Together with @Denys_Shmyhal, he met with Ukrainian soldiers who are defending Europe against Russian aggression. pic.twitter.com/XUyeozU8mX — Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland (@PremierRP_en) February 24, 2023 Zelenskyy said that three more European countries besides Poland have expressed their readiness to start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s. "We are opening up the possibility of training on the F-16. We have a real feeling that with three more European states—I won't say which ones—there is an opportunity to get these exercises and aircraft. There is no smoke without fire, and therefore training is needed for some time. We want to speed up these processes. They are complex, but this is the comprehensive protection of the sky," Zelenskyy said. Other countries used the occasion of the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion to pledge more modern weaponry for Ukraine. The Swedish government announced that it intends to provide up to 10 Leopard 2 battle tanks as well as components of the HAWK and IRIS-T anti-aircraft systems. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said his country will supply Ukraine with 18 Leopard 2A6 tanks instead of the 14 previously announced. He said that combined with the tanks that Portugal and Sweden plan to deliver, Ukraine will be able to form an entire battalion of Leopard 2A6 tanks. A standard Ukrainian battalion has 31 tanks. x Verteidigungsminister Pistorius hat entschieden, weitere vier #Kampfpanzer #Leopard2 A6 aus Beständen der Bundeswehr an die #Ukraine abzugeben. Damit erhöht 🇩🇪 die Anzahl der gelieferten Panzer von 14 auf 18 & stellt zusammen mit 🇵🇹 & 🇸🇪 insgesamt ein 🇺🇦 Bataillon zur Verfügung. pic.twitter.com/VjmudmPVkn — Verteidigungsministerium (@BMVg_Bundeswehr) February 24, 2023 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada will provide Ukraine with four more Leopard 2 main battle tanks, doubling Canada’s contribution to a total of eight tanks. Trudeau said Canada will also donate an armored recovery vehicle and over 5,000 rounds of ammunition. x Canadian Armed Forces soldiers partner with Polish and Norwegian Armed Forces in Op UNIFIER to instruct Ukrainian recruits in Leopard tank fundamentals in south-western Poland on 20 February 2023.#DemocracyAllies #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/nPSglRJjzc — Canadian Armed Forces Operations (@CFOperations) February 22, 2023 President Joe Biden announced last month that the U.S. would send 31 M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, but these may not arrive until 2024, according to the Secretary of the Army. RELATED STORY: Slava Ukraini: For some reason, no one wants to hang out with loser Russia [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/24/2154791/-Ukraine-receives-its-first-Western-tanks-on-the-first-anniversary-of-Russia-s-invasion Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/