Russia downplays importance of supplying Western tanks to Ukraine

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported this. 

Analysts cite Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that "the Western supply of Abrams and Leopard tanks is “quite a failure… in terms of technological aspects” and that there is a “clear overestimation of the potential that [these tanks] will add to Ukrainian forces.”

The ISW adds that some Russian military bloggers may have tried to reassure their domestic audience by claiming that the equipment supplied to Ukraine does not pose a serious threat and that other systems transferred earlier pose a more serious threat. In particular, the HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems. 

The Kremlin and Russian bloggers have previously assessed the Western supply of Patriot air defense systems as a serious escalation between Russia and the West.

“The fact that the Kremlin and Russian milbloggers did not frame the provision of armored vehicles that could actually aid future Ukrainian counteroffensive operations as escalatory suggests that the Kremlin and the Russian information space continue to selectively choose which systems to frame as an escalation,” the ISW reported. 

The Kremlin and Russian propagandists seem to be more concerned with calming potential fears about the impact of the West's commitment to supply Ukraine with tanks than with fueling the narrative of escalation between Russia and the West, experts add.

• Earlier it became known that Poland is ready to provide Ukraine with 14 Leopard tanks. Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that his country is ready to participate in the supply of tanks to Ukraine.

• Also, Spain changed its decision regarding the transfer of heavy weapons to Ukraine to counter Russian aggression. Currently, Madrid can send Leopard tanks for Ukraine's Armed Forces.

• Already on January 25, it became known that Ukraine will receive 14 Leopard 2 tanks from the Bundeswehr. Berlin also allowed partner countries to provide Ukrainian defenders with German tanks from their own stocks.

• On the same day, Joe Biden officially announced the delivery of 31 American M1 Abrams tanks, as well as other equipment to Ukraine.

• Biden also announced that the United States, together with its allies, will provide Ukraine with artillery systems, ammunition and air defense systems. 

• In their turn, the leaders of the USA, the UK, Germany, France, and Italy agreed on January 25 to continue military support to Ukraine in close Euro-Atlantic coordination.