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Ukraine Orders 100 Armored Vehicles from Poland. PHOTO/Reuters
KIEV – Ukraine have ordered 100 armored vehicle multi-purpose Rosomak, which is made in Poland under a Finnish license. This was stated by the Prime Minister of Poland, Saturday (1/4/2023).
“I brought the order made yesterday by (Ukrainian) Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal for 100 Rosomaks to be made here,” said Mateusz Morawiecki during a visit to the Rosomak production site in the southern Polish town of Siemianowice Slaskie.
“The order will be financed through funds that Poland receives from the European Union and United States (US) funds that Ukraine receives,” he said. He did not provide details or the full cost of the contract.
The United States and its allies have provided Ukraine with funds and weapons after Russia invaded its pro-Western ex-Soviet neighbor in February 2022. The Rosomak is an 8×8 multi-purpose armored vehicle produced under license from Finland’s Patria.
To counter the onslaught of the Moscow army, Ukraine has repeatedly asked its Western allies to send military equipment. A number of European countries have sent Leopard 2 tanks to be used by the Ukrainian army to serve Russian troops.
By the end of March, 18 tanks donated by Germany had arrived in Ukraine. In January, Germany agreed to supply the tanks, which were considered among the best in the arsenal of the West. The move clears doubts about the delivery of heavy weaponry which Kiev says is essential to defeating a Russian invasion.
“I am sure they can make a decisive contribution on the front line,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a tweet, as quoted by Reuters.
In addition to the 18 tanks, 40 German Marder infantry fighting vehicles and two armored recovery vehicles have also reached Ukraine, a security source said. Apart from the German vehicles, three Leopard tanks donated by Portugal also reached Ukraine, the security source said.
German soldiers trained Ukrainian tank crews as well as troops assigned to operate Marder vehicles for several weeks in Muenster and Bergen in northern Germany.
Initially, Germany promised to supply 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks to Ukraine. However, there were not enough models for a tank battalion, and Berlin decided to send four more vehicles to Kiev.
(esn)
