Poland ‘lost track’ of tanks it sent Ukraine – expert — RT World News
Military analyst Damian Ratka said it is unclear how many Soviet T-72 tanks the Polish Army currently operates, because the public does not know how many tanks Warsaw has donated to Kiev.
Ratka's comments came within 80 minutes Video event About the future of Polish armor, hosted by the news portal Defense24.
“We don't really know how many T-72 tanks we have, because we don't know exactly how many tanks were transferred to Ukraine,” he added. Ratka said. He added that Kiev likely received at least 30 to 60 vehicles, but actual numbers are not publicly available.
Ratka's estimates match those of then Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki promised To send Ukraine in January 2023: 60 tanks in total, half of them T-72M1 and half of the PT-91 Twardy, the Polish version of the Soviet-era main battle tank. However, Morawiecki also said at the time that Poland had supplied it “about 250” T-72 aircraft to Ukraine.
Warsaw first Announce It donated some T-72s in April 2022, but did not give any numbers. Before that, the Czech Republic and Slovakia had already supplied Kiev with Soviet-era armor, with the aim of replacing vehicles lost in battles with the Russian army.
Morawiecki also pledged to send 14 German-made Leopard 2 vehicles to Kiev, later explaining that the promise was sperm To pressure Berlin to do the same. It was not clear whether any Polish Leopard tanks had already been sent to Ukraine.
Touted by the Western and Ukrainian press as wonder weapons that would win the war, the Panthers ended up being destroyed in large numbers during the Zaporozhye Offensive last summer.
Speaking about the future of Polish armored forces, Ratka noted that Warsaw still operates some T-72 and PT-91 aircraft, as well as three versions of the Leopard 2 and an unspecified number of US-made Abrams tanks and South Korea's K2 Black. Tiger tanks MBTs.
Poland has made plans to buy more than 350 Abrams tanks, including 250 of the newer M1A2 models, as well as 180 or so K2 tanks, Ratka said. However, credit problems have hampered the planned purchase from Seoul.
Ratka added that Poland was planning to close facilities that produce spare parts for old Soviet systems, because they were unable to manufacture some key components, such as turrets and engines. He noted that the fate of the remaining T-72 and PT-91 tanks is uncertain, suggesting that they may eventually be sent to Ukraine as well.
You can share this story on social media:
Source link
