Ukraine receives first batch of repaired Leopard 1 tanks from Poland

The Polish arms maker Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa reports Poland has handed over a batch of repaired Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Other reparations are underway on more combat vehicles.

While others make declarations regarding the future, we act in consultation with the Ukrainian side.

The first Leopard tanks were expressly renovated in the Bumar-Łabędy defense field.

The Ukraine's service center for Leopard 2 tanks has started work in the Polish city of Gliwice. The first two tanks have already been accepted there for repair, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak announced this on July 22.

Błaszczak signed the agreement on creating such a center with German DM Boris Pistorius in April 2023 at a regular meeting in Ramstein.

The repair center was planned to open in May, but Germany and Poland could not agree on the details of the structure of the joint venture for a long time. According to Spiegel, the process was hampered by the Polish side, which offered "monthly prices" for work on the tanks and did not want to undertake any guarantees for repairs.

The German newspaper Handelsblatt, citing sources, reported that Berlin is withdrawing from the agreement with Warsaw due to "absolutely exaggerated price expectations of the Poles."

However, the German DM spokesman did not confirm this information. He noted that Poland and Germany continue to implement the idea of repairing Leopard 2 tanks and also want to continue to "jointly coordinate" the repair of tanks delivered to Ukraine.