---
title: "Polish Leopard tanks are already in Ukraine, defence minister says"
description: "WARSAW, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Poland has delivered its first Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the country's president and its defence minister told a meeting of the National Security Council on Friday."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-02-24-polish-leopard-tanks-are-already-in-ukraine-defence-minister-says/"
published: "2023-02-24T14:07:06"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 154
---

# Polish Leopard tanks are already in Ukraine, defence minister says

> WARSAW, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Poland has delivered its first Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the country's president and its defence minister told a meeting of the National Security Council on Friday.

By Reuters · Published 24 February 2023, 16:07 SAST

## Key points
- Polish President Andrzej Duda has announced the delivery of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, reportedly sent from Kyiv by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak confirmed that the tanks have reached Ukraine and this is the first batch of heavy gear donated by European allies as part of coalition building. Poland's commitment has been instrumental in convincing other countries to donate military equipment to Ukraine, which was previously opposed by several capitals including Berlin. The tanks will be used for training Ukrainian soldiers on how to operate them against Russia's invasion and Poland aims to reduce training time from six weeks to five weeks at a center where they are likely to be taught.
- Poland has delivered the first batch of Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of coalition building.
- Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak confirmed that the tanks have already reached Ukraine.
- Warsaw's commitment has been instrumental in convincing European allies to donate heavy gear to Ukraine, including tanks.
- Poland said it aimed to get training time on Leopard 2 tanks down to five weeks for Ukrainian soldiers.

## Content

Officials did not give details on the number of tanks delivered to Kyiv at this stage, but Poland has earlier pledged that a company of Leopard tanks would be handed to Ukraine as part of coalition building.

"The prime minister couldn't be here, he [went to Kyiv](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3540O0&linkedFromStory=true) to bring Leopard tanks which are the first batch delivered to Ukraine," President Andrzej Duda said in his opening remarks at the meeting in Warsaw.

Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak later said the tanks have already reached Ukraine.

Warsaw's commitment has been instrumental in convincing European allies to donate heavy gear to Ukraine, including tanks, a move opposed by several capitals, including Berlin, until recently.

The first delivery comes less than a month after [Poland](https://www.reutersconnect.com/o%20get%20training%20time%20on%20Leopard%202%20battle%20tanks%20down%20to%20five%20weeks%20at%20a%20centre%20where%20Ukrainian%20soldiers%20are%20likely%20to%20be%20taught%20how%20to%20operate%20the%20Western%20battlefield%20workhorse%20against%20Russia's%20invasion)said it aimed to get training time on Leopard 2 tanks down to five weeks for Ukrainian soldiers.

(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki, Anna Koper, Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Alex Richardson and Tomasz Janowski)