Breaking Defense
February 24, 2023

Polish Leopard 2 tanks arrive in Ukraine as Sweden announces more to come

On the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Poland has officially delivered its first tranche of Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine – just as the Swedish government announced plants to supply up to 10 of the same vehicles to Kyiv.

The delivery marks the first foreign gifts of Western-made main battle tanks to Ukraine…which it hopes to use as part of a planned upcoming spring offensive.

Poland said Friday it had delivered four Leopard 2A4 tanks, coinciding with a visit to Kyiv by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki….That was confirmed by a tweet from Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal, with a photo of him and Morawiecki shaking hands in front of the tanks. Warsaw is expected to deliver an additional 10 units in the future.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s prime minister Ulf Kristersson and defense minister Pal Jonson jointly announced Stockholm’s decision to send up to 10 Leopard 2A5 tanks, as part of a new military aid package for Ukraine.

The Leopard 2A5 tanks, of which Sweden holds 120 units, are in addition to 50 CV90 infantry fighting vehicles previously committed by Stockholm. The latest military aid package for Ukraine, from the Scandinavian nation, also covers the gifting of Hawk air defense system components and ammunition and IRIS-T air defense system components.