Ukraine Receives Tanks From Czech Republic After Reports Of US ‘Quietly’ Assisting

On Tuesday it was confirmed that Ukraine has received over a dozen Soviet-designed T-72M tanks from the Czech Republic amid a big push among Western powers to bolster Ukrainian defenses amid the continued Russian war, and as the Russians are beginning to cut off much of the east and south.

The Czech initiative marks the first time any external power has provided tanks to Kiev since the start of the Feb.24 invasion. Further, the effort to transfer tanks apparently involved the assistance of the Biden administration, as previously reported by Politico and others.

And The Wall Street Journal notes the efforts could ramp up, writing, “In a potentially even more important development, both the Czech Republic and neighboring Slovakia, which shares a border with Ukraine, are considering opening their military industrial installations to repair and refit damaged Ukrainian military equipment.”

NATO file image of T-72M4CZ tank, via Wiki Commons

If the program reaches that point, it would mean NATO countries getting more deeply and logistically involved right on Ukraine’s border, potentially coming closer to a direct clash with Russian forces – given the Kremlin early in the invasion warning it would target any external weapons shipments or systems.

The WSJ emphasizes this possibility by pointing out that “Russia’s campaign of missile strikes across Ukraine has targeted in particular the country’s defense industry, destroying facilities where such repairs and refitting could take place—something that makes the Czech and Slovak cooperation particularly valuable.”

Most Western countries have maintained reluctance to transfer weaponry as heavy or significant as tanks, on fears it would lead to open Russia-NATO war. As for the Czech tanks, “These weapons supplies were funded by the Czech government, and private Czech donors who have chipped in to a government-backed crowdsourced fundraising campaign to arm Ukraine,” WSJ notes further.

The program likely has Washington’s “quiet” involvement. Days ago Politico reported that “The U.S. government is reportedly set to transfer Soviet-made tanks to support Ukrainian defense efforts against continued Russian attacks in the country’s east.” 

The Biden administration has in the past days repeatedly declined to comment on the widespread reporting of US involvement… 

Blinken said yesterday that he “can’t get into” whether this report is accurate, and that the US will now be sending tanks into Ukraine. According to the Biden Administration, the public has no right to know the details of these daily escalations in an intensifying US proxy war pic.twitter.com/JAUnSPJlSb

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) April 4, 2022

Further, “A government official in Washington told the New York Times on Friday that the decision of U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration had come as a response to requests by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to support his country’s war effort with military equipment, including tanks.”