The Swedish government has decided to transfer 10 Leopard tanks to Ukraine. This was announced on Wednesday, March 15, by the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin.
“Today we heard the news of our progress [в деле оказания помощи Украине] and some important new commitments. Sweden has announced that it will supply Ukraine with 10 Leopard tanks and important air defense components,” he said at a briefing.
Also on Wednesday, Austin said that more than 150 German-made Leopard tanks would be transferred to Ukraine, which in total committed themselves to supply nine Western countries. He added that in addition to this, the number of states that provide Kyiv with air defense systems continues to grow. Among such countries, he singled out the USA, Germany and the Netherlands.
According to the head of the Pentagon, Western assistance, in particular, will help the Ukrainian army form more than nine brigades of tanks and other armored vehicles.
Earlier, on March 1, the Pentagon announced that the funds allocated by the US Congress to help Ukraine would be enough to supply weapons in the current fiscal year. However, the department did not rule out the possibility of the department turning to Congress for additional funds if necessary.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of Russia’s special operation to protect Donbass, which the Russian authorities announced on February 24, 2022 amid the aggravation of the situation in the region due to Ukrainian shelling.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned the supply of arms to Kyiv. So, in mid-January, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a new round of supplies to Ukraine of more advanced military equipment could “only drag out the whole story.”
