Confusion swirls over Western tank caveats in Ukraine

COLOGNE, Germany — The Dutch government, one of the architects of European Leopard 2 tank donations to Ukraine, has placed no caveats on the weapons’ frontline use by Ukrainian troops, as confusion swirls over a report that U.S. military leaders wanted American Abrams sidelined from combat.

“Ukraine itself determines how it wants to deploy the donated equipment; the Netherlands has not imposed any additional conditions on this, other than the obligations arising from the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law,” a spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of Defense told Defense News.

The statement follows a report by the Associated Press last month that quoted U.S. officials as saying the widespread use of drones by Russian had exposed the donated Abrams to the risk of being detected and destroyed.

“When you think about the way the fight has evolved, massed armor in an environment where unmanned aerial systems are ubiquitous can be at risk,” Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Adm. Christopher Grady told the AP.

He added that U.S. officials would work with Ukrainian officials to develop new tank tactics on a changed battlefield “where everything is seen immediately.”

The report also quoted an unnamed official as saying Ukrainian forces weren’t using tanks in so-called combined arms operations, a military jargon reference to the practice of orchestrating air and land assets during combat so they can provide cover for one another.

Not so, say Ukrainian Abrams operators, according to a video posted on Youtube this week by Army TV, a channel run by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, as reported by Business Insider . A soldier of Ukraine’s 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, identified in the video as Dmytro, said Abrams tanks were still being used in frontline combat, though not in tank-on-tank battles.

The video’s English subtitles quote him as saying, “Full of lies,” when an Army TV correspondent asks him about the Abrams sidelining reported by the “quite respectably American mass media,” an apparent reference to the AP story.

The Russian government is currently displaying captured Western weapons, including Abrams and Leopard tanks, as war trophies in Moscow. The exhibit comes comes as President Vladimir Putin, newly sworn in for another term following elections described by U.S. and European officials as a sham, has intensified his rhetoric casting the attack on Ukraine as an existential fight against NATO and the collective West.

The U.S. government has donated 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, of which five were reportedly lost in combat.

European leaders agreed last year to send about 80 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, with lead nations Germany giving 18 and the Netherlands and Denmark donating a combined 14.

The Dutch Ministry of Defense said officials aren’t tracking the donated behemoths. “The Netherlands doesn’t have any insight into loss or damage to Leopards that were provided in part due to involvement by the Netherlands,” the spokesperson told Defense News.

Defense officials in Berlin declined to comment on the question of Leopard operational caveats and losses, citing operational security concerns.

Ruitenberg reported from Paris.

Sebastian Sprenger is associate editor for Europe at Defense News, reporting on the state of the defense market in the region, and on U.S.-Europe cooperation and multi-national investments in defense and global security. Previously he served as managing editor for Defense News. He is based in Cologne, Germany.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

德国科隆——荷兰政府是欧洲向乌克兰捐赠豹2坦克的始作俑者之一，对于乌克兰军队在前线使用这些武器并未提出任何限制。此前有报道称，美国军方领导人希望将美国艾布拉姆斯坦克排除在战斗之外，这引发了混乱。

荷兰国防部发言人告诉《防务新闻》：“乌克兰自行决定如何部署捐赠的装备；荷兰除了《联合国宪章》和国际人道主义法规定的义务外，没有对此施加任何额外条件。”

此前，美联社上个月的一篇报道援引美国官员的话说，俄罗斯广泛使用无人机使捐赠的艾布拉姆斯坦克面临被发现和摧毁的风险。

“考虑到战争的演变方式，在无人机系统无处不在的环境中，大规模装甲作战可能会面临风险，”参谋长联席会议副主席克里斯托弗·格雷迪海军上将告诉美联社。

他还补充说，美国官员将与乌克兰官员合作，在“一切都能立即被看到”的全新战场上制定新的坦克战术。

该报道还援引一位不愿透露姓名的官员的话说，乌克兰军队在所谓的联合兵种作战中没有使用坦克。联合兵种作战是军事术语，指的是在战斗中协调空中和陆地力量，以便它们可以互相掩护的做法。

据《商业内幕》报道，乌克兰国防部下属的“陆军电视台”本周在YouTube上发布的一段视频显示，乌克兰艾布拉姆斯坦克操作员的说法并非如此。视频中，一名自称德米特罗的乌克兰第47独立机械化旅士兵表示，艾布拉姆斯坦克仍在前线作战，但不再用于坦克对坦克的战斗。

视频的英文字幕引用他的话说：“全是谎言”，当时一名陆军电视台记者问他关于“相当体面的美国大众媒体”报道的艾布拉姆斯战机被搁置一事，这显然是指美联社的报道。

俄罗斯政府目前正在莫斯科展出缴获的西方武器，包括艾布拉姆斯主战坦克和豹式坦克，作为战利品。此次展览正值弗拉基米尔·普京总统在被美国和欧洲官员称为“骗局”的选举后宣誓连任之际，他加大了对乌克兰的攻击的宣传力度，将其描述为一场与北约和整个西方世界生死存亡的斗争。

美国政府向乌克兰捐赠了 31 辆艾布拉姆斯坦克，据报道其中 5 辆在战斗中损失。

去年，欧洲领导人同意向乌克兰运送约 80 辆豹 2 型坦克，其中牵头国德国提供了 18 辆，荷兰和丹麦共捐赠了 14 辆。

荷兰国防部表示，官员们并未追踪这些捐赠的巨型坦克。“荷兰方面对因荷兰参与而提供的豹式坦克的损失或损坏情况一无所知，”发言人告诉《防务新闻》。

柏林国防官员以作战安全为由，拒绝就豹式坦克的作战缺陷和损失问题发表评论。

鲁伊滕贝格从巴黎报道。

塞巴斯蒂安·斯普伦格是《防务新闻》欧洲版副主编，负责报道该地区的防务市场状况，以及美欧在防务和全球安全领域的合作和多国投资。此前，他曾担任《防务新闻》执行主编。他现居德国科隆。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。