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Type 2000 self-propelled howitzers in Munster
Photo: GREGOR FISCHER / AFP
Type 2000 self-propelled howitzers delivered to Ukraine from Germany are apparently used in the region around Lysychansk, where Russian troops are currently launching large-scale attack after large-scale attack.
This emerges from a tweet by the Ukraine Weapons Tracker account, which regularly verifies information about the use of military equipment using geolocation.
In this case, when asked by SPIEGEL, the operators of the account stated that they had the information from the Instagram account of Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar.
The governor of the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, Serhiy Hajday, said on Ukrainian television on Tuesday that Lysychansk was "constantly being bombed with large calibers".
Fighting continued in the city's suburbs.
"The Russian army is constantly trying to attack." According to the governor, there are still around 15,000 civilians in the city.
Lysychansk is the next key target for Russian troops after they completely took the neighboring city of Sievarodonetsk over the weekend after weeks of fighting.
The Luhansk region, one of the two sub-regions of the Donbass, is almost entirely under Russian control.
Now the self-propelled howitzers from Germany and the Netherlands are supposed to help hold Lyssychansk after all.
All seven Panzerhaubitze 2000 artillery pieces promised by the German government arrived in Ukraine last week.
Exactly where the first heavy weapon systems from Germany will be used has been top secret up to now.
The reason: Destroying artillery weapons has a high priority for the enemy.
The federal government had hesitated for a long time when it promised heavy weapons.
At the beginning of May, Lambrecht had announced that the seven tank howitzers 2000 from Bundeswehr stocks would be handed over.
The Netherlands should provide five more examples of howitzers mounted on a tank chassis.
Germany had taken over the training of the Ukrainian soldiers on howitzers.
It began on May 11 at the Bundeswehr Artillery School in Idar-Oberstein, Rhineland-Palatinate.
Germany delivers more howitzers to Ukraine
Germany and the Netherlands only announced on Tuesday that they will deliver six more models of the self-propelled howitzer to Ukraine.
The federal government has decided "that we can hand over three more 2000 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine," said Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht.
"I'm already going to the absolute limit of what is responsible." According to them, the Ukraine had asked Germany and the Netherlands for the additional deliveries.
Ukraine has been asking western partners for months to supply longer-range guns to halt the Russian advance.
Depending on the ammunition used, the Panzerhaubitze 2000 can shoot 30 to 40 kilometers.
It is considered one of the most modern howitzers in the world and can fire up to ten shells per minute.
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