Polish bids for tank repair center curtailed by lack of spare parts
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Poland says that its plans to set up points to repair Ukrainian tanks are hampered by the fact that there are no spare parts for the tanks in question.
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A Germany army Main battle tank Leopard 2A6 takes part in the Lithuanian-German military exercise 'Griffin Storm 2023' at a training range in Pabrade, Lithuania, June 26, 2023 (AP)
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki highlighted Monday the major obstacle hindering the establishment of a maintenance center to support the Ukrainian offensive - the lack of spare parts for German-made Leopard main battle tanks.
Morawiecki told reports about how it was "difficult" to maintain Leopard tanks when there is an insufficient supply of spare parts.
The plan for a repair center, set for the southern Polish city of Gliwice, was announced by Poland's envoy to NATO, Tomasz Szatkowski, in mid-June. This joint initiative between Poland and Germany aimed to address the maintenance needs of the tanks. Furthermore, Poland expressed interest in providing maintenance services for US-made Abrams tanks.
The plan faced significant delays due to a lack of military supplies from Western donors. Reports from The Wall Street Journal indicated that Ukrainian commanders opted to refrain from deploying Western tanks into battle after encountering strong resistance from Russian forces. Instead, they focused on targeted strikes to weaken the opposition.
On Monday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius urged the faster establishment of a Leopard 2 tank repair facility in Poland.
"I think time is running out. Germany is ready to take responsibility, one way or another. That is why we expect that the negotiations should be completed within the next ten days," Pistorius told a press conference with his Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak, uploaded by the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
Pistorius is in southeast Poland to visit the Patriot anti-aircraft unit of Germany.
Ukraine's ambitious counteroffensive against Russia - which it launched in a bid to take the lands captured by the country through the war effort - is proving to be quite a difficult task.
The frontline is laden with mines and Russia's advanced defense systems, combined with the lack of air cover on Ukraine's end, have hampered Kiev's effort to take back any land.
Ukraine's first attacks yielded mixed results, or mostly Ukrainian forces halted their attacks in recent days as commanders drew lessons from the past two weeks and tried to figure out how to penetrate Russian lines without suffering heavy losses, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Ukraine has been hyping its counteroffensive attack since last year. Although the attack was intended for spring, it was moved to the summer after Ukraine blamed the delay on a lack of weapons.
The West has been urged to deliver progressively heavier weapons, including tanks, drones, and fighter planes.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu revealed that the Russian armed forces claimed to have destroyed a staggering 920 Ukrainian armored vehicles, including 16 Leopard tanks, in the Donbass and Zaporozhye regions during June.
The shortage of spare parts for Leopard tanks has emerged as a critical challenge, jeopardizing the implementation of a maintenance center that could offer crucial support to the Ukrainian offensive.
As the war goes on, the availability of necessary resources and supplies remains a crucial factor in shaping the course of the conflict in the region.
Moreover, amid the scarcity of resources, The Times reported earlier in the year that Ukraine would most probably receive less than a quarter of its allies' promised combat tanks on time.
At a time when Ukraine was expecting the West to send in a total of up to 320 Western tanks, it was estimated that only 50 would be received by the start of April, raising concern that this number will not be enough to have a substantial impact during Russia's alleged military offensive in spring.
