Germany did not deliver the hundreds of MRAP armored personnel carriers to Ukraine, as promised earlier, claims the German newspaper Bild. Berlin has reportedly repeatedly postponed the delivery deadline for “Mine Resistant Ambush Protected” (MRAP) vehicles due to documentation problems.
Since the beginning of the military conflict between Kiev and Moscow in February 2022, Germany has gradually become one of the most important suppliers of military equipment and weapons to Ukraine. Among the equipment Berlin donated to Ukraine were Leopard tanks and self-propelled guns.
Russia has repeatedly stated that Western weapons in any quantity cannot change the course of the conflict, but such shipments needlessly increase the risk of a direct confrontation between NATO and Moscow.
In an article on Monday, Bild claimed that the German government plans to deliver 400 MRAPs to Ukraine, which it bought from German arms manufacturer FFG. The paper quoted a spokesman for the German Defense Ministry as confirming that Berlin is financing the $335 million contract and that the vehicles are expected to arrive in Ukraine this year.
The actual delivery of the MRAPs, however, has been hampered the article reported.
According to a secret Defense Ministry document cited by Bild, the first 20 vehicles were to be delivered to Kyiv in January, followed by the same number of batches every month until October 2024.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense reportedly told reporters that no vehicles of this type have yet been delivered to Ukraine. The paper claimed that the original plans had been revised and the first shipments were presumably pushed back to May, before that deadline was pushed back again to June.
According to the article, the reason for the delays is that FGG does not actually manufacture MRAPs independently, but instead sources key components from the United States. Bild cited unnamed defense ministry sources as attributing the alleged delay to “restrictive US export permits for Germany”.
