Spain rules out sending its 'Leopards' to Ukraine, but is considering donating armored transport vehicles

Defense will also send the Ukrainian combatants warm clothing from the Army to face the low temperatures

MADRID, 2 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ministry of Defense has ruled out the possibility of transferring the 'Leopard' tanks to Ukraine due to the poor state of conservation in which they are found, although it does maintain the idea of ​​sending the Government of Volodímir Zelensky twenty vehicles of TOA M-113 armored transport of the Spanish Army.

At first, Spain considered the option of donating to Ukraine ten 'Leopard' battle tanks owned by the Army that had been stored for years in facilities in Zaragoza. However, a review of the vehicles has revealed that their poor condition makes it impossible to repair them within a reasonable time.

The cost of these works would have fallen on Ukraine, but the Army has aborted the possibility of starting them because any repair would have an excessively high cost and would also pose a risk to its end users, sources from the Government.

The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, confirmed this Tuesday during a visit to the Torrejón de Ardoz air base that the vehicles are in a "regrettable" situation and the tests carried out confirm that their fine-tuning is not possible.

What the Ministry of Defense does maintain is the possibility of donating twenty M113 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine, which military sources assure are in better condition and could be put into service.

In any case, Defense emphasizes that any shipment of this type will always be carried out under the maximum possible discretion to avoid risks both for the personnel in charge of the transport and for the receiving countries, mainly Poland.

In addition, the Ministry of Oaks has already prepared the shipment of a shipment of warm clothing material to help the Ukrainian military to face the low winter temperatures in Eastern Europe. These are Army clothing and footwear that still need to be reviewed before shipment.

Precisely this Wednesday the minister will go to the headquarters of the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid to meet with its ambassador, Serhii Pohoreltsev, with whom she plans to address these future shipments, as well as the situation of the Ukrainian refugees who are in Spain and the wounded soldiers who are treated at the Zaragoza Military Hospital.

Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Armed Forces have carried out a total of 19 flights to transport offensive and defensive material, in addition to the ship 'Ysabel', which transported 200 tons of military material for Ukraine to Poland. according to data from the Ministry of Defense.

This shipment of arms and ammunition has been the largest carried out by Spain and was announced by the Prime Minister himself, Pedro Sánchez, during his visit to kyiv to meet with Zelensky.

The Air Force has also carried out other humanitarian flights. Specifically, ten flights have taken place in which more than 600 vulnerable people have been transferred to Spain, including children, people with disabilities or the injured who are being treated in Zaragoza.

These wounded Ukrainian combatants, many of them with serious injuries such as amputations, are also receiving psychiatric and psychological care, rehabilitation and physiotherapy in Spain, as well as support in the procedures for their inclusion in the temporary protection system and the Spanish health system.