Tanks are likely to determine the Ukraine war in the coming months.
Kiev is therefore continuing to arm itself in the race with Russia.
Kiev (Ukraine) - Ukraine's spring offensive against Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine is apparently being slowed down by the rainy season.
The spring time, known in Russian and Ukrainian as “Rasputitsa”, makes roads and paths impassable: In many places, they are transformed into mudfields due to heavy rainfall and snowmelt.
But preparations for the counter-offensive continue - if statements by Ukraine are to be believed.
"The planned counter-offensive includes a large and complex package of actions and measures by the Ukrainian military, which includes preparations for a number of defensive and offensive measures," Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar told Ukrainian television on Wednesday.
Some of these "complex measures" are already "underway" in the east of the country, it said.
There are different scenarios as to where Ukraine will attack: International experts are also considering an offensive from the north-east.
Ukraine: Ukraine gets these tanks for the counter-offensive
According to many international assessments, Russia did not give a good picture about the winter in the tank battle.
For the expected counter-offensive, the Ukraine can now rely on many tanks newly delivered from the west.
How Ukraine is gearing up for the offensive:
France delivered AMX-10 light battle tanks to Ukraine months ago, as well as training Ukrainian soldiers on the infantry fighting vehicles.
According to Bild.de
, the AMX-10 tanks are used by Ukraine
as sniper tanks because they can aim up to four kilometers despite their small size.
By the end of March, around 30 Leopard 2 tanks had arrived in Ukraine from Germany, Canada and Poland.
Poland also supports Ukraine with PT-91 tanks, a Polish development of the Soviet T-72 tank.
According to
Bild.de,
tanks of this type can precisely locate enemy attacks thanks to highly sensitive thermal imaging technology.
According to Bild.de
, Russia can compensate for the extremely high losses of tanks
by overhauling old Soviet tanks and upgrading them with new technology.
This also includes tanks of the type T-72.
War in Ukraine: Spain will deliver Leopard tanks in the next few days
On Friday, Spain also began delivering six Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
The promised delivery of tanks, along with almost twenty transport vehicles, left the port in Santander, northern Spain, for Ukraine on Friday evening and would arrive in "five to six days," Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles announced on Saturday.
Another four Leopard tanks would be delivered later once repaired, Robles said.
In March, 55 Ukrainian soldiers completed a four-week training session in Spain on how to use battle tanks.
At the US Ramstein Air Force Base in Rhineland-Palatinate, western allies discussed further arms deliveries to Ukraine.
(kat/dpa/AFP)