What to know about M1 Abrams tanks and why they matter to Ukraine The Biden administration is due to reveal plans to send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, after U.S. officials raised concerns about the Ukrainian military’s ability to operate and maintain the heavy battle tank. Months of debate and reluctance among Western allies culminated in Germany declaring Wednesday that it will deliver 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. An announcement is also expected from Washington. Read the full story here.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Jan. 25 thanked Germany for its U-turn decision to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, calling the move “important and timely." “I am sincerely grateful to (German Chancellor) Olaf Scholz and all our friends in Germany,”
Today, President Volodymyr Zelensky turns 45. He is the youngest and the most prominent president in the history of independent Ukraine, leading the country at the time of a brutal war. Here are some of the most remarkable moments with Zelensky in the past year. Photos: Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Image, Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, President’s Office, Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images, Sergei Chuzakov/AFP via Getty Images, Paula Bronstein/Getty Images, President’s Office, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, President’s Office.
Portugal is now preparing to give Ukraine four Leopard 2 tanks, Correio de Manha reported on Jan. 25, citing unnamed government sources. The reports came ahead of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s confirmation of delivering 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, along with the green light for other European nations to deliver them. According to the source, Portugal holds 37 Leopard 2 tanks in stock, of which 12 are fully operational. Germany’s decision also paves the way for other countries to supply Ukraine with their Leopard tanks.
There are currently 5,800 Russian troops on the territory of the Republic of Belarus according to Vadim Shitbotsky of Ukrainian defense intelligency agency HUR. The focus on Russian movements in Belarus comes amid speculation that Russia could launch a new large-scale offensive from the territory of Ukraine's northern neighbor, after the first attempt failed in March 2022. On Jan. 21, another representative of Ukraine’s military intelligence allayed these fears, saying that “there is no threat from Belarus of a full-scale group operation.” Shibitsky notes that Russia currently holds one “Iskander” division, S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, and three MIG-31 aircrafts on the Belarussian territory.
The Ukrainian military withdrew from the salt-mining town of Soledar “to save the lives of the personnel,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, said on Jan. 25 This is the first time Ukraine has confirmed its withdrawal from the town, located in Donetsk Oblast, ten kilomteres north of the embattled city of Bakhmut. While Russia had claimed complete victory in Soledar by Jan. 13, Ukraine repeatedly said that fighting still raged in the town. In a commentary to Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, Cherevatyi said that Ukraine was able to exhaust Russian troops, making it more difficult for them to continue its offensive in the Bakhmut sector. There was no encirclement or capture of Ukrainian troops before the withdrawal from Soledar, according to Cherevaty.
Germany confirmed on Jan. 25 that it would send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine after months of delay, and allow other countries, such as Poland, to send their own stocks. The long-awaited tanks will be delivered from the stocks of Bundeswehr armed forces, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Bloomberg in an emailed statement. “This decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the best of our ability,” Scholz said, as quoted by Bloomberg. “We are acting in a way that is closely agreed and coordinated internationally.” Pressure had been mounting for Berlin to greenlight the transfer of the powerful Leopards after Poland and the U.K. promised to send the first batches of Western tanks to Ukraine, whose soldiers are braving Russia’s brutal assaults in the country’s east and south.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on allies to provide heavier and more advanced systems to Ukraine “to win back territory and prevail as a sovereign state in Europe.” The path to peace in Ukraine “lies through the supply of weapons,” Scholz said in a Jan. 25 interview to Welt. According to Stoltenberg, President Putin proved that he is willing to pay a high price for “this unjust war” with his mobilization over 200,000 troops in Russia. Stoltenberg also placed emphasis on Russian weapons acquisitions from authoritarian states like Iran and North Korea. The NATO chief also noted that there is currently a low risk of Russia using nuclear weapons against Ukraine. If that were to change, “NATO would certainly react.”
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