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THE Czech Republic has become the first Nato country to provide tanks to Ukraine as thousands started to flee the eastern Donbass region yesterday.
Prague sent the shipment of T-72 and other armoured infantry vehicles in response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plea for increased military hardware from the alliance.
The tanks were provided as a gift, funded by the Czech Republic and wealthy donors as Russian artillery continued to pound the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Kharkiv.
Washington is said to be lukewarm on the provision of the T-72 tanks, however, and discussions on the supply of further military aid by Nato is currently under discussion.
“They have this offensive dimension, they are not purely defensive. They would not be particularly relevant to the military activities the Ukrainians need to undertake,” a Western official said.
The transfer of 28 MiG jets from Poland to Ukraine via the US was shelved last month amid fears that Nato would be dragged into the conflict.
Thousands have started to flee the eastern Donbass region amid fears of a major Russian invasion.
But Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said that he thinks it will be some weeks before Moscow will be ready to launch its next big offensive there.
