Sending British tanks to Kyiv will not help the Armed Forces of Ukraine to turn the situation and will only lead to tightening military operations in Ukraine and new victims. So the Russian Embassy in London reacted to the British decision to transfer to Ukraine the squadron of tanks Challenger 2.
“The direction of tanks will not at all bring the end of hostilities, but will contribute to their tightening, provoking all new victims, including among the civilian population. … They are unlikely to help to erase the situation on the battlefield, but will become a legal large target For Russian guns, ”said Russian diplomatic mission.
Earlier on Saturday, January 14, it was reported that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in a telephone conversation with the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, confirmed the intention to put the Ukrainian army of the British tanks Challenger 2.
“The Prime Minister identified the desire of Great Britain to strengthen our support of Ukraine, including by providing Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems,” said the British Prime Minister’s office.
They did not specify how many tanks and artillery systems will receive the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to The Sun, London will transfer 12 tanks to Kyiv.
Military experts note that Challenger 2 tanks have a number of features, because of which they are unprofitable on the Ukrainian front. For example, this is a mass of data of cars of 75 tons, which imposes a restriction on the passage through bridges, it will also be difficult to serve them and provide an ammunition. Conflict Intelligence Analysts write that the transfer of such tanks is good only to remove the taboo for heavy weapons so that other countries that have tanks are not afraid of escalations. The journalists of The Guardian and Bloomberg write that the UK decided to supply Challenger 2 tanks for the purpose of pressure on Germany, which still refused to issue permission to supply Leopard 2 tanks, on the eve of the meeting on January 20 in the Ramstein format.