Deliveries of Leopard 1 combat tanks to Ukraine have received approval from the German government. IOC, meantime, denounces Ukraine's plan to boycott the Olympics. DW is up to date.
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit acknowledged in Berlin on Friday that the German government had authorised the shipment of older Leopard 1 main combat tanks to Ukraine without providing any other information.
The news was first reported by the Süddeutsche Zeitung in its Friday issue. As soon as the tanks are restored, deliveries of the tanks from the industrial stockpiles may be made, according to the publication.
However, the report states that it is still difficult to find the necessary 105-millimeter ammunition. Despite having substantial supplies of the ammunition on hand, Brazil's administration under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has so far refused to give it to Ukraine.
The Leopard 1 first entered service in the 1960s and is the predecessor of the more modern Leopard 2, which is extensively employed by armies around Europe.
The government decision, according to the German publication Der Spiegel, involved 29 Leopard 1 aircraft that were in storage at a military supplier.
According to The Süddeutsche Zeitung, two manufacturers intend to renovate "dozens" of Leopard 1s and ship them to Ukraine.
14 additional contemporary Leopard 2 main combat tanks from Bundeswehr stock were already being sent to Ukraine by the German government.
Follow the latest news on Google News
