Germany confirms provision of 30 Leopard-1 tanks to Ukraine

This information was confirmed by the German Ministry of Defense.

"Germany has confirmed the transfer of an additional 30 Leopard-1 tanks to Ukraine," the statement reads.

Earlier, Handelsblatt noted that the military-industrial concern Rheinmetall had bought Leopards from Belgium, modernized them and handed them over to Ukraine.

Instead, the Belgian publication Business AM reported that 50 Leopard 1 tanks, which were decommissioned several years ago and stored in a warehouse in the city of Tournai, were purchased by an unknown country for Ukraine.

According to the German outlet Handelsblatt, the tanks were bought by the Rheinmetall military-industrial concern.

Handelsblatt reports, citing its sources in German industrial circles, that Rheinmetall will now "modernize" the tanks and transfer them to Ukraine - but, according to the outlet, not all of them, but about 30 of them.

Earlier, the purchase was reported by the Belgian edition of Business AM.

50 Leopard 1 tanks, which were decommissioned several years ago and stored in a warehouse in the city of Tournai, were purchased by an unknown country for Ukraine.

It is reported that Belgium did not plan to transfer them to Ukraine, as their commissioning was too expensive.

According to the outlet, the country sold the tanks to OIP Systems for EUR 15,000 per unit due to a lack of hangars to accommodate the decommissioned equipment. The first Leopard 1s are already being shipped to Ukraine via Germany and Italy after being repaired and equipped with new weapons systems.

So far, only Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands have announced the transfer of purchased Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

• Earlier, Germany announced a new aid package for Ukraine, which included 10 Leopard tanks, among other things.

• A center for the repair of Ukrainian Leopard tanks was opened in Poland.

• On July 24, Spain sent a ship with military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine from the port of Santander. The aid package includes 4 Leopard 2A4 tanks, 10 M-113 armored personnel carriers, 10 military trucks, 1 armored vehicle, and more.