The German Ministry of Defense, on October 10, on the eve of a meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine, announced a “winter package” of military assistance to Kyiv, totalling about 1 billion euros.
The new package of German aid primarily includes air defence equipment, including the previously reported additional Patriot and IRIS-T systems. The German Defence Ministry published this information. The timing of their delivery to Ukraine is not specified.
The package will also include 10 more Leopard 1A5 tanks, three additional Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, twenty medevacs and 15 armoured vehicles, which will be in Ukraine “in the next few weeks.”
“With this new ‘winter package’, we are further strengthening the operational readiness of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the coming months,” commented German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
The German Ministry of Defense also clarifies that in October, Ukraine will receive the previously promised air defence systems – the third IRIS-T SLM (medium range) and the second IRIS-T SLS (short range).
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Earlier it was reported that Germany will send Ukraine one additional IRIS-T air defence system (it is not specified whether it is short-range or medium-range) and “more than a dozen” Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.
These air defence systems, which are expected to arrive in Ukraine in the coming months, are expected to cover grain shipments heading to Romania along Ukraine’s southern coast.
In August, Ukraine announced the creation of its own route for the transportation of agricultural products through the Black Sea under the Russian blockade – after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
In addition, in the new aid package, Germany will provide an additional €20 million support package for the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces, including vehicles, weapons, and personal equipment to make them “more combat-ready.”
The German Ministry of Defense reminds that the country is Europe’s largest donor of military aid to Ukraine and the second largest in the world after the United States, and will provide training for 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers by the end of 2023.
During the previous meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine’s defence, Germany presented a military aid package worth 400 million euros.
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