Putin boasts that Leopard and Abrams tanks “burn better than Soviet T-72s”

2023-07-15 11:21:50

As new Western tanks arrive on Ukrainian territory, more tension is perceived on the side of the Russian military authorities. Even President Vladimir Putin himself has made reference in recent hours to the existence of German and American main tanks. The Kremlin tenant has said in a message full of irony that Western tanks, referring to the German Leopards and the American Abrams, “burn better” than the Soviet ones. Putin said that since the Ukrainian counteroffensive began in early June, the Russian army has destroyed at least 100 Western production vehicles, including German Leopards.

“I can say that the Ukrainian military often refuses even to enter these (Western) tanks because they are a priority target for our guys on the battlefield,” the president told Russian public television Rossia-24.

In his opinion, such tanks “burn like all the others, even better than the well-known Soviet-made T-72.” He said that 311 tanks have been destroyed since June 4 alone, of which “at least a third are Western production I think, including Leopards.”

Putin also pointed out that while the Western missiles supplied to Ukraine cause damage on the Russian side, they do not cause change on the front. “Yes, they do damage, but nothing critical happens in the combat zone with these missiles,” he said.

In this sense, Russia is confident that further Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, including French SCALP long-range missiles, will bring nothing to Ukraine, but will only aggravate the situation.

“From the point of view of a possible change on the battlefield, a new supply of weapons will not give anything, it will only aggravate the situation and aggravate it for the Ukrainian side,” he argued.

What Ukraine asks for

Ukraine, for its part, says that it is not well “protected” from Russian missile attacks like those that occurred in Lviv last week or in Vinnytsia exactly one year ago, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuriy Ignat, told EFE. . “What we saw in Lviv, with the bodies of peaceful people being taken from their destroyed houses, was no less terrifying than what happened here in Vinnytsia last year,” Ignat said after the memorial service for the victims of the Vinnytsia attack. “We need more air defense means,” he reiterated.

However, air defenses are not capable of protecting the entire territory of Ukraine, Ignat warned. “To protect ourselves from drones and missiles, we need modern multi-role combat aircraft, capable of intercepting threats near important state objects,” he stressed.

Ignat said the decision to deliver the F-16 to Ukraine is of “historical significance.”

The planes will assist the Ukrainian armed forces in defense and attack, disrupt Russian logistics in Ukraine, and potentially drive Russian shipping away from the Ukrainian coast through the use of Harpoon missiles.