Germany’s decision to send tanks to Ukraine will leave a “huge gap” in the country’s defences, an official from the country has warned.
Eva Högl, the German parliament’s Commissioner for the Armed Forces, has warned that her country’s decision to hand over 14 advanced Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine could jeopardise the EU nation’s ability to defend itself.
As a result, she has urged that the country’s military are given replacements for the 14 tanks being sent abroad as soon as possible.
“The 14 Leopards coming from Panzer Battalion 203 in Augustdorf are creating a huge gap there because they don’t have enough to train and be fully operational themselves,” Die Welt reports Högl as explaining, with the official saying that the €100 billion (~$107 billion) set aside to replace exported equipment must be spent on quickly replacing the vehicles.
She went on to add that while those in Germany’s military understood the apparent need to send weapons to Ukraine, the sheer volume of weaponry being exported was endangering their ability to do their job.
“In all my visits to the troops, I find that the soldiers feel that there is an urgent need for Ukraine to be supported — with everything that it needs,” she said. “On the other hand, the Bundeswehr is very affected by the fact that a lot of equipment is being handed over.”
“We have to keep an eye on our own operational readiness,” she went on to say.
Högl’s warning echoes a similar statement made by officials in other countries that have been sending weapons to Ukraine in the hopes of aiding its fight against Russia.
In Britain, there are increasing fears regarding the state of the country’s military, with the opposition Labour Party’s shadow defence secretary, John Healey, warning that armaments exports were putting the armed forces at risk if anything donated to Ukraine is not replaced.
“Ukraine is depleting our military stockpiles and the Government is acting too slowly to replenish them,” the Labour MP warned, adding that the military could very easily be “left short” if nothing is done.
Despite these warnings though, it does not appear that weapons deliveries will calm down anytime soon, with the Zelensky administration continuing to push for increasingly powerful weapons to be sent from the West to Ukraine.
On top of the Leopard 2 tanks already promised to Ukraine, for example, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands have now all agreed to send a quantity of older Leopard 1 tanks to the country along with a “spare parts and ammunition package”.
Meanwhile, Britain has announced that it will begin training Ukrainian pilots to fly NATO-style Western fighter jets, a declaration that appears to indicate that at least some countries will indeed end up sending the country advanced combat aircraft in the near future.