Repaired Ukrainian Leopard 2 Tanks Ready to Return to Battle

The press service of the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense reported on Friday, Dec. 15 that an unspecified number of repaired Leopard 2 tanks were being prepared for shipment back to Ukraine. The tanks had been accepted for overhaul by Lithuania following damage during fighting in September and October.

The tanks were fixed at the Lithuania Defense Services (LDS) repair facility in Jonava, a town in central Lithuania. The site is a joint venture established last year in cooperation with the German enterprises Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.

The workshops provide maintenance, repair and logistical support for armored combat vehicles not only for Ukraine but also the Lithuanian Armed Forces and those of other NATO countries deployed to the Baltic States.

In early October, Ukraine received two battle damaged Leopard 2 tanks that were repaired by Poland’s Bumar-Łabędy defense company in advance of the opening of the Lithuanian center.

Lithuania also carried out maintenance and repair of PzH 2000 155mm self-propelled howitzers, which were transferred to Ukraine as part of Germany’s military aid, in September 2022.

In addition to carrying out repair and maintenance of armored vehicles LDS also trained 18 Ukrainian mechanics in field repair and maintenance procedures which can suffer technical issues from intense battlefield use.

Lithuania has also provided both military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. In November, Lithuania transferred two NASAMS air defense missile launchers along with support vehicles and equipment and 3 million rounds of NATO standard 7.62 small arms ammunition.

Other Topics of Interest

Scraping Bottom – Film Studio Donates Soviet-Era Tanks to Russia’s Army

During a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday the CEO of Mosfilm, Russia’s largest movie studio, said it had donated 50 Soviet-era military vehicles to the Russian army in 2023.

In October, the Lithuanian Cabinet of Ministers allocated more than $1 million in humanitarian funding for the reconstruction of essential infrastructure and a kindergarten in the Kyiv suburb of Borodianka, as well as that of a school in Snihurivka, farther south in the Mykolaiv region. Both towns were devastated by Russian attacks.