Germany confirms delivery of armored howitzers to Ukraine

The Defense Minister of GermanyChristine Lambrecht, confirmed this Wednesday that Ukraine has received seven Panzerhaubitze 2000 type armored howitzers from the German Armed Forces and another five from Netherlands.

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“They have already arrived in Ukraine and can be used for combat,” Lambrecht told the Bundestag (the lower house of Parliament), calling it an “important signal”.

Berlin was criticized for the slow delivery of these howitzers, since it made it a condition to first carry out a training program for Ukrainian soldiers to prepare them to use this weapon.

The minister confirmed that said training has already finished and stressed that this decision was the “correct” one, since it is about complex weapons and those who handle them must be trained “for their own safety and that of their colleagues”.

He also recalled that since yesterday citizens can consult the list of weapons delivered to Ukraine and the list of war equipment that is intended to be sent.

This has been made public, he said, after kyiv changed its position, since previously it asked to keep the details of the deliveries secret so that this information could not be used by Moscow.

Lambrecht added that as a next step, the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) will train Ukrainian soldiers to operate Mars 2-type multiple rocket launcher systems, of which Berlin intends to deliver three to kyiv.

The United Kingdom will send the same amount and the United States will contribute four, he added, specifying that it is artillery “with a very wide range and very precise” and that it corresponds exactly to what Ukraine needs.

With these supplies, the Bundeswehr will reach “the limits” of what the minister considers responsible in view of what is essential to conserve for the defense of Germany, according to what he said.

For this reason, the rest of the military support provided for the time being will come from private companies, which are preparing to send Gepard-type anti-aircraft armor and Iris-T air defense systems.

In addition, Germany participates in “circular swap” programs to replace Soviet-made equipment that other countries deliver to Ukraine and is currently in negotiations with Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Greece, he explained.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.