Leopard and Challenger tanks are likely to start operating at front by summer - US attaché

This was reported by the Ukrainian service of the Voice of America.

"I don't think we will wait until the summer. We have no time to wait," Kremenetskyi said.

At the same time, the diplomat noted that the training of Ukrainian troops on Leopard and Challenger tanks will take place in different countries and will take time due to the complexity of the equipment.

"A 'tank coalition' has been created - a number of countries that are ready to provide us with tanks, we are talking about Leopard, the UK has promised to provide us with 14 Challenger tanks - these are the tanks that we can get almost in the near future, but they will require some crew training. There are initiatives by the UK, Poland and Germany to train our specialists, so this will take place in different countries. But we need to understand that it is not only necessary to train the tank crew, but also to teach them to act in a coordinated manner as part of units," Kremenetskyi said.

The diplomat also added that American Abrams tanks will be the last that Ukraine will receive. 

"Abrams is also a very sophisticated piece of equipment. Abrams are provided to us under the USAI (Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative) program, which allocates funds for the ordering and production of these tanks. That is, it will take some time, I think it will be longer than getting Leopard and Challenger. I'm not ready to talk about specific deadlines," Kremenetskyi said.