On the occasion of the second anniversary of the Russian invasion, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has published a series of videos of gratitude to the 24 countries (19 from the EU) that have supplied it with weapons to confront the invading Army.
The video about Spain occupies tenth place, behind those dedicated to the US, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada, Poland and Australia.
In addition to highlighting the delivery of Hawk anti-aircraft missiles, “to defend the sky,” and Leopard battle tanks, “to defend the land,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense welcomes the delivery of ATGM missiles, “to destroy the enemy.”
ATGMs, for their acronym in English, are guided anti-tank missiles to destroy combat or armored vehicles.
Until now, the delivery of these missiles to kyiv was unknown since, unlike other countries, Spain offers little information about the type of weapons it supplies.
It is not the first time this happens.
When he visited Madrid in April of last year, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Oleksii Reznikov, thanked the delivery of Harpoon anti-ship missiles, until then unknown, to “keep the Russian fleet” away from its coasts.
Military sources indicate that the anti-tank missiles delivered to kyiv are of the Tow LWL (Lightweigh Launcher) model, manufactured by the American company Hughes.
These are guided missiles with a range of up to four kilometers and a weight of 73 kilos that can be launched from vehicles.
Starting in 1996, the Army acquired about 200 launchers and 2,000 missiles, while the Marine Corps received 24 launchers and about 600 missiles.
🇪🇸🤝🇺🇦
Thank you, Spain!#2YearsOfResistance#2yearsOfUnity@Defensagob
Two years ago, Russia started an unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
We are grateful to every country, leader, and person who has stood—and continues to stand—with Ukraine.
We will win.
pic.twitter.com/90f4oSoxlz
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 25, 2024
The Ministry of Defense is immersed in a process of renewing anti-tank systems.
In 2006, 260 firing points and 2,500 Spike LR missiles were acquired from the Israeli company Rafael, for 324 million euros.
And at the end of last year, the purchase of another 168 launchers and 1,680 Spike LR2 model missiles, with greater range than the previous one, was signed for 285 million.
If the first order of Israeli missiles served to replace the Franco-German Milan, the second will take over from the American Tow, which has allowed a first batch of missiles to have already been delivered to Ukraine, complementing those supplied by the Pentagon .
If the war were to prolong, Defense could increase the delivery of Tow missiles and also TOA (Armored Tracked Transport) vehicles, of which it has supplied 50 so far. The new VAC (Track Support Vehicle) program, approved last summer by the Government, foresees the purchase of 394 units for 1,953 million in the first phase.
The Army's plan is to reduce its TOA fleet in parallel from the current 1,250 to only 600, which would allow the delivery of several hundred of these armored vehicles for infantry transport.
According to Defense sources, some of the TOA supplied by Spain were used to remove Ukrainian troops from the town of Avdinvka, in Donetsk province, from which they withdrew in the middle of the month.
Between January 2022, two months before the invasion, and July of last year, Spain has delivered weapons to Kiev worth 134 million and authorized operations for 515.8, according to the report sent to Congress by the Secretary of State for Commerce .
Among the material supplied are 4,272 howitzers of 155 millimeter caliber, eight of 105, 107 light machine guns, 2,159 portable grenade launchers and another 1,894 attached to the cannon;
as well as 33,700 155 shots, 120 mortar shells and 11 missiles.
The global figure does not include the ten Leopard battle tanks, which are listed as a donation.
According to a report from the European Council, Spain is the fifth country in the EU that has authorized the most deliveries of weapons to the Zelensky Government.
However, the Achilles heel of the Ukrainian Army is the lack of ammunition to sustain a war of attrition in which the Russian Army fires up to 50,000 projectiles a day.
Although the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, have promised to maintain support for Kiev - financial, humanitarian and military - "as long as necessary", the reserves of the Spanish Armed Forces are under minimums and the ammunition factories cannot cope with the demand.
“When you go to order ammunition, they tell you to get in line and it can take years to get it to you,” laments an Army official.
Joint purchases by the EU and the installation of weapons production plants in Ukraine are the formulas that are being tested to deal with the situation, but none will be enough, NATO sources acknowledge, if Trump wins the elections and closes the tap of American military aid.”
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