Germany delivered a substantial package of military aid to Ukraine in early July, including tanks, armored vehicles, and air defense systems, according to a German news outlet.
The Bavarian daily Munchner Merkur reported on Monday that the German government had secretly delivered a new aid package to Ukraine between late June and early July. The paper described the shipment as “huge,” noting that it was carried out in a clandestine manner and went “largely unnoticed.”
According to Merkur, the package included 39 pieces of various heavy armor from Germany’s military and defense companies, based on government data analysis. Among other donations, Ukraine received an additional ten Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks and 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs).
Open data released by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s cabinet shows that the total number of Leopard 1A5 tanks and Marder IFVs delivered to Ukraine has reached 50 and 120, respectively.
The latest delivery also included various engineering and mine-clearing vehicles, as well as 55,000 155mm artillery rounds, according to the report. The government data indicates that Berlin plans to send an additional 85 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine by an unspecified date, as part of a joint project with Denmark. The future deliveries will also include 20 more Marder IFVs. Merkur reported that Berlin had aimed to provide Ukraine with up to 80 Leopards by the end of 2023 but fell behind schedule due to difficulties in finding spare parts for the armor pieces within the nation’s defense industry.
According to Merkur, Ukraine is still hoping to acquire enough German tanks to establish a specialized brigade for offensive operations and has been “holding back” its remaining Western tanks for months.
The Russian military has released numerous videos showcasing German tanks being destroyed by kamikaze drones or even captured by Russian soldiers after being abandoned by their crews.
The latest batch of weapons also comprised two ground-based IRIS-T air defense systems and three US-made HIMARS multiple rocket launchers. In May, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius pledged that Berlin would cover the cost of delivering the US-made systems to Ukraine.
Throughout the conflict, Germany has emerged as the second-largest single military donor to Ukraine, spending approximately €10.2 billion ($11.14 billion) on supplying arms to Kiev between January 2022 and April 2024, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Berlin has stated that a total of €28 billion ($30.5 billion) has been allocated to support Kiev both now and in the coming years.
In June, Chancellor Scholz acknowledged that many Germans were dissatisfied with the nation’s military support for Ukraine, but he maintained that arming Kiev was unavoidable. In July, Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky declared that his country would “never” have enough weapons.