Russian officials warned that German Leopard tanks sent to Ukraine will suffer the same fate as those destroyed before in World War II.
Leopard-2 tank (Photo: AFP).
In a message on Telegram commemorating the 80th anniversary of Russia’s victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, Speaker of the State Duma (lower house) of Russia Vyacheslav Volodin said on February 2 that Moscow’s victory in the battle came at a heavy price, with the deaths of more than a million soldiers.
Mr. Volodin said Germany did not appear to have learned from Russia’s victory in Stalingrad, now known as Volgograd. He criticized former German Chancellor Angela Merkel for helping the Ukrainian government “prepare for war”. According to the Russian official, the current German government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz has gone even further by sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
“The fate of those tanks will be the same 80 years ago. The Leopards will be burned, repeating the fate of the fascist-era Tiger tanks. The German leadership should properly explain it to the people of Germany. I wonder why they once once more dragged the German people into the war. And remember the battle of 1943, which happened a long time ago but is still memorable,” Mr. Volodin said.
Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev on January 25 warned that modern Leopard tanks supplied by Germany to Ukraine will be “burned” similar to “predecessor” Tiger and Panther tanks – which were destroyed. destroyed during World War II.
The German government last month confirmed it would deliver 14 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany’s stockpile and would authorize other countries to deliver German-made tanks to Ukraine. According to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, the first Leopard tanks can be delivered to Ukraine in regarding 3-4 months.
Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev criticized Germany’s decision to supply Ukraine with tanks as “extremely dangerous” for “bringing the conflict to a new level of confrontation”. According to the Russian diplomat, Berlin’s choice signaled “Germany’s final refusal to acknowledge historical responsibility” for Nazi atrocities during the Second World War. He said the decision made “the difficult road of reconciliation following the war between Russia and Germany” even more difficult.
Moscow has repeatedly called on the West not to intervene in the conflict in Ukraine. Russia warned that military equipment pouring into Ukraine would only prolong the fighting and bring negotiations to a stalemate.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov said on February 2 that Ukraine is ready to ensure that it will not use long-range weapons provided by the West to attack Russian territory, except in areas newly declared by Russia. merger. Last year, Russia announced the annexation of four regions in Ukraine: Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia. Before that, the Crimean peninsula in the south of Ukraine was also annexed to Russia in 2014.
“Ukraine is ready to provide any form of assurance that foreign (Western) weapons will not be used to attack Russian territory. We have enough targets in the areas Ukraine temporarily controls and they I am ready to coordinate targeting with my partners,” said Minister Reznikov.
