The Czech Republic has reportedly become the first NATO member state to send tanks to Ukraine in an apparent escalation between the West and Russia.
Following repeated calls for heavy armaments from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is claimed to have sent Soviet-era tanks and other infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine to bolster their efforts against the renewed invasion by Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Czech MP Ondřej Benešík of the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People’s Party (KDU-ČSL) shared images on social media purporting to show the deliveries of the military vehicles to Ukraine, including modern BVP infantry fighting vehicles and T-72 tanks, which were initially developed by the Soviet Union in 1969.
“Minister of Defense Jana Černochová deserves great praise, this is what the hard-to-fight Ukrainian army really needs now,” Benešík wrote on social media.
Despite the apparent confirmation, the Minister of Defense would neither confirm nor deny the arms shipment to Ukraine.
Appearing before the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Czech parliament, Černochová said according to public broadcaster Czech Television: “I’m sure you’d like to confirm or refute the photos that go around social networks. I apologize to you, I will not confirm them or refute them.
“I will just assure you that the Czech Republic, the government of [Prime Minister] Petr Fiala, will help Ukraine with all its might and will continue to help with military material, both light and heavy.”
“I can’t tell you more. The war is raging there and we won’t make anything easy for the Z-killers! Believe me, we are sending essential military material to Ukrainian friends. And we will continue to do so,” she added on social media.
The Ministry of Defence did reveal that since the start of the Russian invasion, the government has donated some one billion Czech crowns (£34/$44 million) worth of military equipment to Ukraine, however, the government would not stipulate the types of weaponry or vehicles for security reasons.
According to a report from the Financial Times, the latest purported shipments of tanks from Czechia were donations rather than sales, and the Eastern European country has been sending tanks to Ukraine for several weeks.
While other major powers, including the United States and UK have been shipping arms to Ukraine, they have not gone so far as to send heavy equipment such as tanks, meaning that the move from the Czech Republic — a NATO member — could be seen as an escalation in the proxy war between the West and Russia. Other NATO powers have generally limited themselves to sending defensive weapons, like anti-tank and anti-air missiles.
Ukraininan President Volodymyr Zelensky has long been calling on the West to supply his country with weapons and tanks.
Appearing via video before the European Parliament on March 24th, Zelensky said: “You have at least 20,000 tanks. Ukraine asked for a per cent, one per cent of all your tanks to be given or sold to us!”
In another potentially significant move, the Wall Street Journal reported that both the Czech Republic and neighbouring Slovakia are preparing to open up their military-industrial supply lines in order to repair damaged Ukrainian equipment.
The American paper also claimed that the Czech Army has also supplied Ukraine with howitzers for artillery and amphibious infantry fighting vehicles.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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