Ukraine will receive more Leopard tanks of various types from both Spain and Germany as Kyiv presses the early stages of a pivotal counteroffensive that Western officials have said is progressing, though at a high cost.
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles announced Thursday at the 13th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein) that Madrid would supply 20 additional armored vehicles and four Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks, in addition to a new military hospital for wounded Ukrainian fighters.
The armored vehicles will arrive in Poland on June 19 to be transferred into Ukrainian hands, Robles said. The Leopard 2A4 tanks will come from those undergoing refurbishment in Spain.
Madrid's backing for Kyiv, Robles said, "in its quest for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace will remain unwavering for as long as necessary."
Robles' announcement came on the heels of a new commitment from German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who said earlier this week that Berlin would send more than 100 Leopard 15A—an older, less sophisticated iteration of the Leopard 2—tanks to Ukraine by the end of 2023.
The additional Spanish and German armored contributions come amid the opening stages of Kyiv's counteroffensive, which is believed to have opened earlier this month with offensive probing actions at multiple points along the 800-mile front line with Russia.
Kyiv claims its early drives have liberated significant territory in eastern Donetsk Oblast—most notably around the devastated city of Bakhmut—and on the southern Zaporizhzhia front. These initial operations have broken through some forward Russian defensive lines, but Ukrainian troops will have to punch through more fortified defensive positions to reach their objectives.
Ukrainian partners in the West have said they expect Kyiv's losses to be high, even though Ukraine is so far claiming to be inflicting more casualties on the Russians. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, for example, said Thursday: "Ukraine has begun their attack, and they are making steady progress. This is a very difficult fight. It's a very violent fight, and it will likely take a considerable amount of time at a high cost."
Western-provided armor was among the confirmed equipment losses from the opening stages of the counteroffensive. One defeated push on the Zaporizhzhia front received special attention due to the destruction or abandonment of several U.S.-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Leopard 2s.
Russian officials and military bloggers touted the videos and images of the carnage as proof that Western weapons will be ineffective against Russian defenses, while Ukraine and its partners stressed that one local setback—from which most vehicles were reportedly recovered and are being repaired—does not characterize the wider offensive.
More losses are to come, Ukrainian and Western officials have warned. The kind of massed armored columns needed to punch through Russian defenses has not yet shown themselves on the battlefield.
Retired Lieutenant-General Ben Hodges, the former commander of U.S. forces in Europe, has said that this phase is still to come. "There is a big difference between starting an offensive, and the main attack or main effort of the operation," Hodges wrote this week in an article for the Center for European Policy Analysis.
"When we see large, armored formations join the assault, then I think we'll know the main attack has really begun."
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David Brennan is Newsweek's Diplomatic Correspondent covering world politics and conflicts from London with a focus on NATO, the European ... Read more
