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The UK will send a squadron of tanks to Ukraine as part of continued support to the country in its war efforts against Russia.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has approved the plan to support Ukraine with armoured vehicles, The Sun reported.
It would mark the first time in the war that Britain has supplied Ukraine with military tanks and would significantly ramp up Western support.
Providing additional tanks could assist Ukraine in taking back territory that Russia occupies and comes amid hope that Volodymyr Zelensky will be in a position to launch a decisive counter-offensive in the early spring.
A Challenger 2 main battle tank taking part in exercise Saif Sareea 3 in Oman (file photo)
A challenger 2 Main Battle Tank during a Land Combat demonstration (file photo)
The UK is set to send a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks (pictured) to Ukraine
Rishi Sunak is set to inform Zelensky of the additional military assistance later on Saturday.
Zelensky said on Friday in an address to Lithuania’s parliament that his country required ‘urgent decisions by our entire anti-war coalition’, including on the supply of tanks.
The transfer of the tank squadron may also be a major step in persuading Germany to send its much-sought after Leopard II tanks.
Europe has more than 2,000 Leopard 2s, held by armies in 13 countries, but Berlin’s consent is needed before any of the German-made kit can be re-exported to Ukraine.
A Downing Street source said that Mr Sunak wanted ‘action to speak louder than words’, according to The Sun.
A total of 12 of Britain’s Challenger 2 tanks will be provided to Ukraine as part of the additional support. Initially, four will be deployed to the war-torn country before another eight are sent at a later date.
Challenger 2 tanks are a pride of British military machinery and have been in operation for almost 25 years. They weigh 62.5 tonnes and come with a 120mm rifled gun and a 7.62mm chain gun.
Ukraine’s military has previously said it requires around 300 tanks from allied countries to continue its war efforts in liberating the country.
It is understood Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has approved the plan to support Ukraine with the armoured vehicles. Pictured: Rishi Sunak leaves Downing Street, January 11, 2023
A Challenger II Main Battle Tank on manoeuvres in the Oman desert (file photo)
Former commander of 1st Royal Tank Regiment, Colonel Hamish de Bretton Gordon, previously said that use of western tanks could ‘tip the balance’ of the war for Ukraine.
He said: ‘Strategically this sends a very firm message to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that nothing is off the table
‘Challenger 2 and Leopard II are modern tanks. They are much better protected, more reliable, quicker.’
Earlier this week, Russia insisted that the supply of western tanks would only ‘deepen the suffering of the Ukrainian people’ and not shift the course of the conflict. At present, Russia is dependent on tanks dating back to the Cold War.
But at the top of Ukraine’s shopping list are the Leopard II battle tanks, which Germany has not yet supplied.
On Friday, France’s armed forces minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said the vehicles would be delivered to Ukraine ‘within two months’.
Other European nations who use the Leopard II tanks, including Poland and Finland, have said they are ready to provide them, but this requires approval from Germany – which holds the export licence.
Challenger 2 and Leopard II were designed specifically to take on the exact same kit that Ukraine is facing.
A squadron of British Challenger 2 tanks have been on tour in Estonia this week as part of a NATO mission to offset any further Russian interference in eastern Europe. The tanks previously served with distinction in the Bosnian conflict in 1994 and the Iraq War in 2003.
Last year, the UK signed over 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Poland as part of an arrangement to assist Ukraine, by freeing up capacity for Poland to send its Soviet-era T-72 tanks to Ukraine.
Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, said on Wednesday during a visit to Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, that a company of Leopard tanks ‘will be handed over as part of coalition-building’. He also noted that he wanted such a move to be part of a broader set of announcements, adding: ‘We want it to be an international coalition.’
Robert Habeck, the German economy minister, said on Monday that the nation had no plans to send Ukraine its Leopard II tanks, but that it ‘can’t be ruled out’ in the future.
The military contributions to Ukraine will go towards hope that Zelensky will be in a position to launch a decisive counter-offensive in the early spring. Pictured: Ukrainian servicemen stand on their tanks in Bakhmut, Donetsk region on January 13, 2023
A Challenger II Main Battle Tank in the Oman desert (file photo)
Last week Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Britain was open to sending Ukraine tanks and ‘will continue to evolve our support’ as Kyiv prepares ‘the next phase of their self-defence’.
Labour said it would support any decision to hand over Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine and said such a move would help reassure Ukraine.
However, John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, said: ‘Ministers must move beyond ad hoc announcements and set out a plan for military, economic and diplomatic support through 2023 and beyond.’
MailOnline has contacted Downing Street for comment.
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