Ukraine has been receiving Soviet-era tanks from the Czech Republic, marking an escalation in NATO military aid for the Ukrainians, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday (April 5).
Czech Deputy Defense Minister Tomáš Kopečný said that so far, the Czech Republic has sent more than a dozen modernized, Soviet-designed T-72M tanks. The Czechs have also given Ukraine howitzer artillery pieces and BMP-1 amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicles.
🇨🇿 The Czech Republic has sent T-72 tanks to 🇺🇦
— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) April 6, 2022
This makes it the first NATO country to send heavy artillery equipment to 🇺🇦.
It is noted that the train has already arrived on the territory of Ukraine. Prague is counting on Washington to support it, should anything go wrong. pic.twitter.com/Da4ocrKxto
The revelation came after a US official told The New York Times on Friday that Washington plans to work with its NATO allies to send Soviet-made tanks into Ukraine. The US has said it will replenish the arms its NATO allies are sending into Ukraine, which will be a boon for US weapons makers.
The Journal also reported that the Czech Republic and Slovakia are considering opening their military-industrial facilities to repair Ukrainian military equipment. “If the war is going to get longer and longer, the war equipment that is being damaged needs to get serviced,” a Czech Defense Ministry official said. “Ukrainian repair houses are 100% busy, and they are asking other nearby allies to help them with repairs.”
➨ news.antiwar.com/2022/04/05/ukraine-recieves-soviet-era-tanks-from-czech-republic