Russia’s threat to Britain: Kremlin says UK tanks sent to Ukraine ‘will burn’

The Kremlin said on Monday that any British tank sent to Ukraine will “burn” on the battlefield and warned that military aid “will not help the situation on the ground” but will only serve to prolong the ongoing invasion.

Since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24, the United States and its allies have delivered tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons, including rocket systems, drones, armored vehicles and communications systems. .

Britain said on Saturday it would send 14 of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, as well as other forward artillery support in the coming weeks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Britain of “using this country as a tool to achieve its anti-Russian goals” when asked about British tanks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Britain of “using this country as a tool to achieve its anti-Russian goals” when asked about British tanks. Pictured: A destroyed Russian tank covered in snow in the village of Kamyanka, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, January 14.

‘The special military operation will continue. These tanks are burning and they will burn,” he said, using Moscow’s term for Putin’s invasion.

He added that plans by some countries, such as the UK and Poland, to send tanks to Ukraine “will not change the situation on the ground.” It will only prolong this story.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised last week to provide British Challenger 2 tanks to Kyiv. Earlier this month, France also committed to sending tanks, the French-made AMX-10 RC, to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under pressure to approve an increase in international military support for Kyiv by allowing the export of Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine by manufacturer Germany and other countries that have them.

Warsaw has signaled that it is willing to send Leopard tanks to its neighbor.

However, Kyiv suffered a setback on Sunday when German arms maker Rheinmetall said it could deliver repaired Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine by 2024 at the earliest and would need a confirmed order to begin repairs.

Its chief executive was quoted as saying this by the Bild newspaper on Sunday.

Emergency personnel work at the site of an apartment block that was badly damaged by a Russian missile attack in Dnipro, Ukraine, on January 15.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Bashkortostan’s head Radiy Khabirov during their meeting in Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan, Russia, Friday, January 13.

Germany announced earlier this month that it would provide Ukraine with 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to help repel Russian forces.

But Kyiv also requested heavier vehicles like Leopards, which would represent a significant advance in Western support for Ukraine.

Still, Finance Minister Robert Habeck said earlier this month delivery of the Leopard tanks could not be “ruled out.”

The German Army only has around 350 Leopard 2 tanks today, compared to 4,000 main battle tanks at the height of the Cold War.

For Rheinmetall, repairing the tanks it has in stock, at least 22 Leopard 2 tanks and 88 Leopard 1 tanks, would cost several hundred million euros, Papperger told Bild.

“Vehicles must be completely dismantled and rebuilt,” he added.

The company also has 100 Marder vehicles, Papperger said, but these, too, would need repairs that would take seven to eight months before they could be used.

Germany has become one of Ukraine’s main military supporters in response to Russia’s invasion after last year, overcoming a taboo embedded in its bloody 20th-century history on sending weapons to conflict zones.

Still, critics say German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his SPD ruler are too slow, waiting for the allies to act first instead of taking responsibility for Germany as Ukraine’s closest Western power.

Germany’s defense industry is prohibited by law from producing tanks for stock keeping. Even if production is ramped up, experts say it could take at least two years for the new tanks to be ready for use.

The country’s military aid to Ukraine was thrown into potentially further disarray on Monday when Germany’s much-criticized defense minister announced her resignation.

Christine Lambrecht’s decision also comes as her department leads the massive project to modernize the country’s armed forces.

The country’s military aid to Ukraine was thrown into potentially further disarray on Monday when Germany’s much-criticized defense minister announced her resignation. Christine Lambrecht’s decision also comes as her department leads the massive project to modernize the country’s armed forces. Pictured: Lambrecht is seen on January 12.

In a written statement, he said he submitted his resignation request to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, adding that “months of media attention on me” got in the way of a factual debate about Germany’s military and security policy.

Lambrecht, 57, has been defense minister since Scholz became chancellor in December 2021.

Critics have long portrayed her as out of her league. But Scholz stood by her, describing her last month as “a first-class defense minister.”

The pressure on her recently increased after a miscalculated New Year’s video message.

The notoriously unwieldy department has a history of diminishing reputations for ministers.

Its importance increased with the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. That prompted Scholz to announce a special 100 billion euro fund to upgrade the German army, the Bundeswehr, which has suffered for years from neglect and, in particular, from aging and malfunctioning equipment.

Lambrecht last month dismissed suggestions that the government had been too slow to get its spending drive off the ground. She said officials have moved quickly but “these kinds of projects need to be negotiated carefully, this is tax money.”

The minister also drew criticism for his ill-fated communication, beginning with a January 2022 announcement that Germany would hand over 5,000 military helmets to Ukraine as “a very clear sign that we stand by them.”

In April, she took her 21-year-old son on a military helicopter flight, which was made public when she posted a photo on Instagram that turned out to have been taken by the minister herself.

Her ministry said she had applied for the permit and paid the costs herself, but critics said she showed poor judgment.

An amateur New Year’s video message on his own private Instagram account prompted renewed calls from the opposition for Lambrecht’s departure and exhausted the patience of political allies.

It showed a barely audible Lambrecht speaking against a background of loud New Year’s Eve fireworks on a Berlin street.

“There is a war going on in the middle of Europe,” he said. “And related to that, for me there were a lot of special impressions that I was able to get: many, many meetings with cool, interesting people.”