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Soldiers at the Leopard 2 tank
Photo: Helmut Fohringer / dpa
The Bundeswehr will start training Ukrainian teams on the Leopard 2 main battle tank next week. According to SPIEGEL information, the Air Force has already brought the first groups of Ukrainian soldiers with military machines from Poland to Germany in the past few days.
In the middle of next week, Leopard training will start at the Munster military training area in Lower Saxony, where Ukrainian units are already being trained on the Marder infantry fighting vehicle.
The Bundeswehr is planning a kind of turbo training course for the Ukrainian soldiers, some of whom have come directly from the front line near the town of Bakhmut.
In just six to eight weeks, they should learn the basics of operating the complex weapon system, and the interaction of Leopard battle tanks and the Marder infantry fighting vehicle should also be practiced.
Due to the lack of time, only the basics can be taught, the troop said, and training the teams normally takes several years.
If everything goes according to plan, the trained soldiers should return to the front lines in Ukraine together with the Leopard battle tanks by the end of March.
Training on battle tanks is just one part of the various training programs for Ukrainian soldiers in Germany.
According to SPIEGEL information, since the war began in February, around 1,500 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in various barracks on weapon systems such as the Gepard anti-aircraft system or the Panzerhaubitze 2000, which Germany later delivered to Ukraine.
On January 25, the federal government announced the goal of providing the Ukraine with two battalions of Leopard 2 tanks.
In Ukraine, these are usually equipped with 31 tanks each.
As a first step, Germany itself wants to give up 14 tanks.
The others should come from partner countries.
Great Britain is also training on tanks
In Great Britain, Ukrainian military personnel are already being trained on British Challenger 2 main battle tanks, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last Saturday.
The training started last week, according to London.
The Ministry of Defense published pictures of the training at a military training area.
President Zelenskyy welcomed the start of training for Ukrainian crews on Challenger 2.
"It's a good vehicle and will be a serious reinforcement on the battlefield," Zelenskyy said in his daily video address on Saturday night.
He thanked Great Britain for military aid.
czl