British officials vowed to dispatch advanced Challenger 2 tanks to war-torn Ukraine Saturday as heavy ground warfare with Russian invaders rages.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak conveyed the news to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the phone Saturday committing to roughly a dozen tanks and additional artillery hardware, adding to the recent slate of military assistance from allied nations.
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“Always strong support of the UK is now impenetrable and ready for challenges. In a conversation with the Prime Minister, @RishiSunak, I thanked for the decisions that will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners,” Zelensky tweeted.
Always strong support of the UK is now impenetrable and ready for challenges. In a conversation with the Prime Minister, @RishiSunak, I thanked for the decisions that will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 14, 2023
Earlier this month, France pledged to send additional armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine, while Poland unveiled plans to ship 14 German-produced Leopard tanks, if it gets permission from Berlin. Germany and the United States have also expressed their intent to join in and ship critical battlefield vehicles to Ukraine, the BBC reported.
Late last year, the U.S. approved a roughly $45 billion aid package to Ukraine. Zelensky has long pleaded with western allies to ramp up aid as his country continues to suffer Russian bombardment. On Saturday, Russia carried out airstrikes that killed at least five in a nine-story apartment complex in the city of Dnipro, according to Ukrainian officials.
Russia quickly condemned the UK’s latest planned assistance.
“The United Kingdom seems to be intent on reaffirming its status as top NATO Member State in terms of arming Kiev and escalating the conflict,” Russia’s embassy to the UK said in a statement. “The inititative to ship modern samples of heavy armour to the Ukrainian military is meant to serve as precedent and to persuade other, less belligerent Western countries to follow suit.”
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A timeline for when the tanks will get shipped to the front lines remains murky. Prior aid deliveries have varied in the amount of time taken to reach the battlefield.
