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Poland had supplied Kiev forces more than 200 T-72 battle tanks and several dozen infantry fighting vehicles, Polskie Radio reported on April 29.
According to the Polish radio station, the battle tanks supplied by Poland are enough to form two brigades. There is no official information on the amount of equipment delivered.
T-72 battle tanks were put into service in 1973 in the Soviet Union. The T-72M1/M1R battle tanks which were supplied to Ukraine were built under license by Bumar-Łabędy in Poland during the 80s. Since then, the Polish tanks didn’t see any meaningful upgrade.
Like several other NATO members, Poland ramped up the delivery of heavy weapons to Kiev forces over the last few weeks.
Commenting on the issue, Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) People’s Militia Eduard Basurin said on April 29 that DPR forces haven’t yet captured any heavy weapons that were supplied by NATO from Kiev forces.
“We haven’t encountered heavy weapons yet,” he said on Channel One television. “Consequently, we haven’t yet captured the type of weapons that was supplied by NATO. That could happen in the near future.”
Basurin noted that DPR forces taking part in the ongoing Russian special military operation in Ukraine could soon face the T-72 battle tanks which were supplied to Kiev by Poland.
Poland is especially interested in the ongoing war in Ukraine. Recently, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, said that Washington and Warsaw were planning to deploy a Polish “peacekeeping contingent” in the western part of Ukraine.
According to Naryshkin, Polish troops could enter western Ukraine under the pretext of “protecting against Russian aggression” and establish de-facto control over the region.
