A German official said a very small number of modern German battle tanks are still operating in Ukraine. The politician called on the German manufacturing industry to produce more parts to make repairs. Kiev’s backers have depleted their arms stockpiles and are now struggling to find enough weapons to keep the Ukrainian military fighting.
Sebastian Schäfer, a German Green Party member, is urging manufacturers to produce more tank parts and said only a “very small number” of Leopard 2s transferred to Ukraine are still operational.
“Only a few of the modern Leopard 2 tanks supplied by Germany to Ukraine are still being deployed in the war — largely because spare parts for repairs are lacking, according to a defense budget decision-maker in Germany’s parliament,” Business Insider reports.
Kiev received about 80 Leopard 2 Tanks from Western backers. The US and UK have provided a smaller number of Abrams and Challenger Tanks. Additionally, a myriad of countries have sent Ukraine well over 100 Leopard 1 Tanks.
The destruction of Ukraine’s tanks adds to the shortages facing front-line soldiers. The US has nearly exhausted its stockpile of 155 mm shells. The White House has attempted to cover the shortfall by sending Ukraine cluster munitions. Still, Ukrainian soldiers report only having the supplies to fire a dozen shells per day.
The Western stockpile of air defense is also running low. Japan recently agreed to send the US homemade Patriot interceptors. The Japanese missiles free up Washington to send Ukraine its American-made interceptors.
The UK recently announced it had converted 200 air-to-air interceptors to be fired from the ground to be shipped to Ukraine. However, a top defense official in London warned that the UK weapons stockpiles were depleted.
