Tyson Fury has said he is “absolutely devastated” after a “freak” sparring injury forced him to postpone his fight against Oleksandr Usyk, the winner of which will be crowned undisputed heavyweight champion.
The British boxer, the WBC champion, was scheduled to meet his Ukrainian opponent, who holds the WBO, WBA and IBF belts, in Riyadh, later this month.
Fight promoters, Queensberry Promotions, published a picture of Fury showing a cut over his right eye.
Image: Tyson Fury suffered a ‘freak cut’ during a sparring session. File pic: PA
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On X, TalkSPORT boxing editor, Michael Benson, posted what was said to be “leaked” footage of the incident, in which Fury is hit by his sparring partner and promptly walks away, touching the right side of his head.
Queensberry said in a statement that a “freak cut” requiring “urgent medical attention and significant stitching” opened up above Fury’s right eye during a sparring session at his training camp in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
Fury said in the same statement: “I am absolutely devastated after preparing for this fight for so long and being in such a superb condition.
“I feel bad for everyone involved in this huge event and I will work diligently towards the rescheduled date once the eye has healed.
“I can only apologise to everyone affected.”
He said on Instagram, alongside a selfie: “Can’t help getting injured in sparring but what I can say was Usyk was in trouble. I am in fantastic shape.”
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Fury sustained the cut during a sparring session with Croatian southpaw Agron Smakici, Sky Sports understands.
He had previously suffered a gaping cut around his right eye following a bloody points win over Otto Wallin in September 2019.
A Queensberry Promotions spokesperson said on X: “Whilst this is still breaking news it is clearly a massive disappointment, after the work that has been done by so many people to finally deliver the historic event to the world.
Image: Fury and Usyk at a pre-fight news conference in London in November. Pic: Reuters
“Once the doctors have appraised Tyson’s eye, we will have a better idea of the period of recovery needed.
The aim, Queensberry said, is to “reschedule the fight as soon as possible”.
The winner of the bout stood to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield in 1999 and the first in the four-belt era.
All residents have been told to leave the town of Brechin in Angus due to flooding from Storm Babet.
A severe flood warning is set to be put in place for the Brechin River and South Esk area, Angus Council has said.
Those in the affected areas should leave their homes.
The council will be going door to door shortly.
It comes as severe weather warnings are in place in parts of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland as Storm Babet sweeps the UK.
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Some military personnel and their families have been forced to use food banks as high inflation and rising costs tip members of the Armed Forces into crisis, Sky News can reveal.
An unofficial food bank even exists at a large Royal Air Force base in Lincolnshire, a defence source said.
The voluntary facility at RAF Coningsby – home to Typhoon fast jet squadrons – was set up by an aviator to collect food donations from servicemen and women to support civilians in their local community. But the source claimed it is now being used by RAF personnel too.
Image: The food bank serves civilians in the local community. Pic: Destiny Outreach Coningsby
Internal RAF documents seen by Sky News – as well as interviews with military sources and charities – offer a sense of the wider impact of the cost of living crisis on defence, including:
• The need for a number of service personnel to choose between “food or fuel”, with some unable to afford to drive home from their base to see family
• One aviator, a single mother, was forced to go without a hot meal for four days because she had spent her last money on baby milk formula
• The volume of enquiries to a key charity from or on behalf of military personnel seeking financial support has more than doubled
• There are individuals who can no longer even afford the price of the subsidised meals at their mess
• A sense of “discontent” at covering for striking public sector workers on better pay deals when the Armed Forces are not permitted to take industrial action themselves
While the documents referred to the situation inside the RAF, a Royal Navy source and an Army source said personnel in their respective services were also experiencing hardships.
The Royal Navy source said the Ministry of Defence was trying to do more to help, such as support with childcare costs.
“But I suspect more needs to be done,” the source said.
“I’m hearing … stories of sailors unable to head home at weekends or over leave periods due to travel costs, also service personnel using food banks or contacting service charities for assistance with debt management.”
Image: The RAF says the food bank was not set up for its personnel. Pic: Destiny Outreach Coningsby
‘The food bank is popular’
The UK provides its Armed Forces with a range of specific benefits such as access to subsidised housing and meals – as well as fuel grants in a bid to keep the offer to join the Army, Navy and RAF attractive and to retain talent.
The support is also in recognition of the particular hardships and inconveniences of military life, and the fact that anyone who serves has to be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Yet analysis of morale across the whole of the RAF last year by military chaplains revealed that a limited number of personnel were resorting to food banks in the local areas.
An anonymous quote in the report read: “The food bank is popular.”
This was qualified with a footnote that warned: “Food bank use is reported across a majority of units, but nowhere is yet reporting widespread use”.
It continued: “Single figures per unit of families utilising food banks is a working estimate.”
The airbases RAF Benson in South Oxfordshire and RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire “are reporting the highest use of food banks”, according to the footnote in the report, which was entitled Chaplaincy Analysis of Whole Force Morale 2022 and dated 12 January 2023.
Overall, the report found that cost of living pressures as well as failings with military accommodation – such as faulty heating and vermin – were the biggest factors “adversely impacting” morale.
Image: Drop-off points for donations have been set up at RAF Coningsby. Pic: Destiny Outreach Coningsby
Separately, the defence source with knowledge of the food bank at RAF Coningsby claimed that service personnel had been using the facility “extensively”.
Asked how they felt about this, the source said: “Incredibly angry and frustrated that we had got to the point where service personnel had to rely on charitable agencies just to exist.”
A junior non-commissioned officer established the food bank – which has its own Facebook page – a couple of years ago to support the local civilian community, having been involved with this kind of charitable activity while posted overseas in the US.
According to the Facebook page, the food bank is run by a Christian group called Destiny Outreach Coningsby. It says it offers support to people living in the town of Coningsby and the surrounding villages.
“With the cost of living rising, please look out for one another. If you are in need of a food parcel then please contact us,” it said.
An RAF spokesperson made clear that the food bank was not set up by the RAF for its personnel. However, the spokesperson did not offer a comment on the record about the claim that serving aviators were using the facility.
The Ministry of Defence is understood to regard any use of food banks by military personnel as a “private life matter” and does not have any data to support claims of their alleged use.
However, officials at RAF Coningsby raised concern with Air Command last July about “a worrying increase in personnel seeking assistance and support across all welfare pillars as a direct result of the cost of living crisis”.
The warning was contained in a report, dated 22 July 2022, which was entitled Cost of Living Crisis – RAF Coningsby.
It mentioned the establishment of the food bank.
The report drew on information gathered from the experiences of four focus groups of about 150 personnel and families over a one-week period.
It listed several trends, including “pers [personnel] struggling to afford fuel to drive to work; … pers unable to travel home each week and having to stay on unit, reducing morale and wellbeing; real concern for the winter months where electricity and gas costs will further exacerbate the current situation”.
The paper suggested ways the military could offer relief, such as by increasing the rate paid for fuel use. It noted: “Personnel were having to decide whether to buy food or fuel.”
Armed Forces pay ‘an annual gamble’
The documents and defence sources said pay is another factor creating pressure for the military, especially given soaring inflation.
The chaplaincy analysis talked about a “sense of looming discontent” as service personnel may be called upon to fill in for public sector workers who are striking for better wages.
The Armed Forces Pay Review Body, an independent entity, makes a recommendation each year to the government on any pay increases for the military, which the Ministry of Defence draws upon before making its announcement on what the amount will be.
This should happen before the start of each financial year but is often delayed and any increase in salary is backdated to the beginning of April.
The Ministry of Defence has yet to announce this year’s settlement, though the pay review body has submitted its recommendations and an announcement is expected soon.
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0:59
‘If my economic policies fail it’s on me’
One RAF aviator described the process as “an annual gamble on what we may or may not receive”.
Asked what message they had for the government, the aviator said: “Understand that your military deserves to be fairly compensated for the role they play in support of the UK on all fronts … We see through the words and false promises and expect to be treated fairly in return for our commitment to the crown and our country.”
Sarah Atherton MP, an Army veteran and member of the Commons Defence Select Committee, said the government should give the military a 10% pay rise in line with inflation.
“We’ve never had such an unstable global security situation, and we need our Armed Forces to protect us when we want them to protect us,” she told Sky News in an interview.
“We need to make sure they are valued and they feel valued.”
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1:51
Do we have an inflation problem?
Stepping in to fill the void are military charities like the RAF Benevolent Fund.
It said enquiries about financial assistance from or on behalf of serving personnel more than doubled last year to 539 cases compared with 2021.
In response to questions about the cost of living and food banks, the RAF spokesman said: “The food bank at RAF Coningsby was not set up by the RAF for its personnel, and the RAF offers a range of support, such as welfare officers who can offer financial advice and access to fuel grants and hardship funds provided by the RAF, and supporting charities and associations.
“More widely, defence has created a comprehensive package of support that includes the biggest pay increase in 20 years, freezing daily food costs, providing accommodation subsidies and saving up to £3,400 per child per year by extending wraparound childcare – this is in addition to wider cost of living support provided by the government.”
Last financial year, the government awarded service personnel up to the rank of one-star a 3.75% pay rise – described as the biggest percentage uplift in two decades. But inflation has since rocketed, with consumer prices in February jumping 10.4% from a year earlier.
The Ministry of Defence says there is “a serious level of inaccuracy” in leaks which claim UK special forces have been operating in Ukraine.
The claims have been widely reported after US classified military documents were allegedly leaked and published online.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson has warned against taking allegations contained in the reported leak at “face value”.
A spokesperson said in a message posted on Twitter: “The widely reported leak of alleged classified US information has demonstrated a serious level of inaccuracy.
“Readers should be cautious about taking at face value allegations that have the potential to spread disinformation.”
Media outlets have reported that a document, dated 23 March, indicates as many as 50 UK special forces personnel have been deployed to the country alongside other western special forces.
But the document reportedly does not state where the allegedly deployed forces are located or what they are doing.
Chris Meagher, a spokesman for the Pentagon, has urged caution in “promoting or amplifying any of these documents”, adding that “it does appear that slides have been doctored”.
The documents may first have been published in a chatroom on Discord, a social media platform popular with gamers, Associated Press reported.
An unidentified chatroom user shared documents that were allegedly classified, first typing them out with their own thoughts, then, as of a few months ago, beginning to post images of papers with folds in them.
The posts appear to have gone unnoticed outside of the chat until a few weeks ago, when they began to circulate more widely on social media.
Many details shared by the person have not been independently verified and the original chatroom has been deleted.
Asked on Monday if the US government was effectively waiting for more intelligence documents to show up online, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby replied: “The truth and the honest answer to your question is: We don’t know. And is that a matter of concern to us? You’re darn right it is.”
It comes after the US defence department began investigating who is responsible for the potentially damaging leak.
Read more: Russian ambassador has ‘evidence’ UK special forces involved in attack
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1:05
From 5 April: Putin – US-Russia relations ‘in deep crisis’
The New York Times, which first reported the breach, quoted military analysts as saying the files appear to have been modified in certain parts, which could point to an attempt by Moscow to spread disinformation.
Wall Street Journal correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov said Russian propaganda channels appeared to have photoshopped at least one of the documents after the original ones were posted.
Mr Trofimov noted how there was suddenly a significant increase in the number of Ukrainian casualties and equipment losses recorded and a massive decrease in the Russian battle damage.
Ukrainian presidential official, Mykhailo Podolyak, said the leak looked like a Russian disinformation operation, saying that it contained a “very large amount of fictitious information”.
Click to subscribe to Ukraine War Diaries wherever you get your podcasts
The act of stealing secret documents and leaking them either with or without modifications is a long-standing weapon of information warfare designed to undermine an opponent.
It would benefit Russia for information about Ukraine’s battle plans and Western support to be leaked online.
The classified files – including one marked “top secret” and another marked “secret” – are dated from late February and early March.
They do not reveal specific dates or details about Ukraine’s anticipated spring offensive in the east and south of the country.
But they do offer clues about the kind of military formations that Western allies are helping their Ukrainian partners build up.
The New York Times said US officials were trying to have the files taken down off the social media sites.
However, as of last Friday morning, versions of the leaks were still being widely shared.
I’m watching as war breaks out in the Lake District.
Tensions have been escalating for months between blue forces from the south and red forces in the north over disputed territory around Kendall. Now a helicopter has been shot down and both sides are attacking.
It’s an exercise, of course. Not on a military training ground, but in a non-descript building on an airfield in Lancashire.
But the room I’m standing in is filled with people representing different branches of the armed forces, the RAF in flight simulators, infantry personnel in VR headsets crouching behind a wall of simulated sandbags, with surveillance drone and satellite intelligence teams in front of large video screens.
The military has been using computers to practice battles for decades. Flight simulators with realistic terrain to train pilots are the best example.
But what’s happening here is different.
It’s one of the first examples of what’s known as a Single Synthetic Environment – a “digital twin” of real-world 3-D terrain and airspace – being used to train the military.
Armed forces around the world are exploring the power of these virtual worlds in which to rehearse wars.
‘We’re going to see a blurring of the physical and digital world’
“Historically the simulation and the simulator were together – we’ve separated those two,” said Lucy Walton, head of training at BAE Systems, which is developing the technology.
“It replicates the physics, it replicates the real world terrain and now we have one that everybody uses in the same central system.”
The concept may sound familiar – it’s the same technology used in massively multi-player online gaming environments (MMOGs) – and perhaps not surprisingly the people behind those games are involved here.
“We’re going to see a blurring of the physical and the digital world,” says Mimi Keshani, co-founder of Hadean, a London-based software firm that has worked with companies like Minecraft to build their virtual worlds.
“You’ve got a huge amount of complexities to manage, and different levels of fidelity from different people interacting. So in this system, we’ve got people in Typhoons and assets flying above the ground, we’ve got land forces. All of them need to see different things, but they need to see it in a common operating picture.”
The system has 60,000 AI ‘entities’
The system exploits massive improvements in the speed and power of cloud-based computing, as well as machine learning and AI software.
On top of the military forces involved in the exercise, the environment has “layers” like weather systems added on top. One crucial element typically missing from large-scale military training exercises are civilians.
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3:13
Is the British Army up to scratch?
This experimental system has 60,000 AI “entities” each representing a civilian in the virtual environment that responds to the actions taken by the military.
The potential advantage to the military is obvious.
In a time of limited defence budgets, training virtually and at scale can save millions in fuel, ammunition and personnel movements required for large scale military exercises. And the training isn’t limited to remote locations out of the way of towns and civilian airspace.
Nor is it vulnerable to the prying eyes of rival nations’ satellites.
Worries over pressures on budgets
“This allows us to train on a more frequent basis. So people don’t only get to go on large scale exercises once in an 11-year career, they could do this every week, if you wanted to,” says Ms Walton.
But there are concerns that as the technology continues to improve, blurring the lines even further between the real and the virtual world, that real-world military experience is lost.
Read more: How much does the UK spend on defence? VR creator says new headset can kill you if you lose in a game
The idea of bringing all branches of the armed forces together virtually to train is “very, very welcome,” according to Tobias Ellwood MP, chair of the Defence Select Committee.
“My worry is, because of pressures on budgets, that we will see the flight simulators, we will see these digital classrooms take over from getting out into the field and doing real-life experience in a battle group, regiment or brigade.”
An ever-expandable virtual environment may be ideal for training armed forces, but can it recreate the true conditions in which life-and-death decisions are made in combat?
Britain should be more concerned about Chinese-made CCTV cameras on the streets than spy balloons 60,000ft above ground, a watchdog has warned.
New findings from the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner (OBSCC) said British police forces are “shot through” with Chinese cameras, drones and other surveillance equipment.
The watchdog’s survey also suggested bodies using the equipment were “generally aware that there are security and ethical concerns about the companies supplying their kit”.
There have been growing concerns in recent days about the threat of Chinese spy balloons after the US shot down four objects flying in its airspace this month, prompting the UK to review its security measures.
Washington declared one of the aircraft as Chinese spyware.
There are now security fears over police using Chinese-made drones.
All police forces across England and Wales, as well as the British Transport Police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Ministry of Defence, and the National Crime Agency (NCA), were asked in June last year about their use and governance of CCTV and other surveillance cameras.
The watchdog said several of the respondents claimed their camera systems use equipment which there had been security or ethical concerns about.
Fraser Sampson, of the OBSCC, said: “It is abundantly clear from this detailed analysis of the survey results that the police estate in the UK is shot through with Chinese surveillance cameras.
“It is also clear that the forces deploying this equipment are generally aware that there are security and ethical concerns about the companies that supply their kit.”
He added: “There has been a lot in the news in recent days about how concerned we should be about Chinese spy balloons 60,000 feet up in the sky.
“I do not understand why we are not at least as concerned about the Chinese cameras six feet above our head in the street and elsewhere…”
Mr Sampson said it should be considered whether it is appropriate for bodies to use equipment made by companies with “such serious questions hanging over them”.
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2:19
Mystery surrounds flying objects
Read more: Timeline of unidentified objects shot down Chinese ship used laser against coast guard vessel, Philippines says China claims US balloons flew over its airspace ‘more than 10 times in the past year’
The OBSCC said 39 of the 47 bodies and forces contacted for the survey responded, which was “disappointing”.
Around 18 said their external camera systems use equipment that had security or ethical concerns, while at least 24 gave the same response when asked about internal camera systems.
A National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) spokesman said: “Following government guidance where governmental departments have been instructed to cease the deployment of such equipment around sensitive sites, UK Policing will conduct necessary reviews to ensure national security standards are met.
“Model contractual terms and conditions are widely used across policing, and these include specific provisions for equality, diversity and human rights. These are imposed on contracted suppliers and would be used to enforce any breach of contract.”
The Telegraph also reported that more than two-thirds of drones operated by police forces in the UK are made by a Chinese firm that is blacklisted in the US.
A Home Office source told the newspaper on Tuesday that Home Secretary Suella Braverman had “concerns” about the use of Chinese technology in the UK and would want police to make sure all their data is “secure and not vulnerable to any interference by a foreign state”.
Britain is firing up three coal power generators ready for use on Monday as a prolonged cold snap grips the country.
The National Grid said the three generators – two at Drax’s site in North Yorkshire and one at West Burton in Lincolnshire – will not necessarily be needed tomorrow.
But it has asked them to be warmed up and ready to run if required.
The recent cold spell that has brought sub-zero temperatures, freezing fog and snow to swathes of the country is set to continue into next week.
Check the weather forecast where you are
The plants on standby are three of the five coal power units that were set for retirement, but whose lives were extended through this winter in a bid to boost supplies amid energy security fears.
“This morning we’ve issued a notification to warm the winter contingency coal units. This measure should give the public confidence in Monday’s energy supply,” the ESO (Electricity System Operator) branch of the National Grid said.
“The ESO as a prudent system operator has these tools for additional contingency to operate the network as normal and the public should continue to use energy as normal.”
In October the ESO warned it was “likely to be a challenging winter for energy supply throughout Europe” but said it was planning for a 6.3% margin to ensure reliable electricity supply.
This is the second time this winter that coal plants have been put on standby. They were also warmed up in December when snow blanketed much of the country and energy demand climbed, but they were not eventually needed.
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2:19
Government support for business energy bills will be cut in April as the chancellor moves to reduce taxpayer exposure to the soaring cost of gas and electricity in 2023
Coal is the most polluting type of fossil fuel, and has been broadly been phased out in the UK as it seeks to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and stave off dangerous levels of climate change.
But ministers in Britain, along with those in Germany and Italy, warned they may be forced to burn more coal after Russian President Vladimir Putin squeezed Europe’s gas supplies, sending prices soaring and threatening supplies.
Germany called its decision to fire up old coal plants a “bitter but necessary” pill to swallow as it sought to replace Russian gas.
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The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.
The British Army will become temporarily weaker and less able to combat Russia after giving away tanks and artillery to Ukraine, its top general has said in an unusually blunt admission.
General Sir Patrick Sanders told his troops that the decision to help the Ukrainian military defeat Vladimir Putin’s invasion would make the UK safer.
But he also stressed the “vital” need to restore his army’s warfighting capability.
The comments were made in an internal message to the Army – seen by Sky News – that appeared designed to put pressure on the Treasury to commit more funding to defence.
“Wars are won and lost on land,” the chief of the general staff wrote in his statement, which was issued after Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, confirmed to Parliament on Monday that the UK would be sending 14 Challenger 2 tanks as well as artillery guns to Ukraine as part of a significant new package of military support.
Image: General Sir Patrick Sanders
“Ukraine needs our tanks and guns now. I know they will put them to good use. And there can be no better cause,” General Sanders said.
He said the UK pledge would encourage other allies to follow suit with more “battle-winning” weapons in greater numbers.
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1:18
UK to send tanks to Ukraine
However, the well-regarded officer admitted: “Giving away these capabilities will leave us temporarily weaker as an army, there is no denying it.
“But ensuring Russia’s defeat in Ukraine makes us safer and, as a leading member of NATO, the world’s most powerful defensive alliance, we are protected by the principle of collective defence.”
The top general continued: “There is no doubt that our choice will impact on our ability to mobilise the army against the acute and enduring threat Russia presents and meet our NATO obligations.
“Our tank crews and gunners will feel the impact the most, but the decision also brings the opportunity to accelerate the modernisation and transformation of the army ahead of Russia.”
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4:11
How will UK tanks help Ukraine?
Rishi Sunak’s government is refreshing a sweeping review of UK defence and security with the army in need of billions of pounds more in funding to fulfil plans to transform with upgraded tanks and artillery as well invest in vital weapons such as long-range missiles and air defence systems.
But the prime minister has yet to commit even to maintaining defence spending flat in real terms – when the impact of inflation is taken into account.
Read more: Is Russia pushing Belarus to join Ukraine war? UK reveals number of tanks to be sent to Kyiv
A failure to inject significant new money into the defence budget would result in real-term cuts.
The results of the refresh are set to be published in March around the time of the Budget.
Click to subscribe to Ukraine War Diaries wherever you get your podcasts
“It is vital that we restore and enhance the army’s warfighting capability at pace to reinforce our combat credibility and retain our position as the leading European ally in NATO,” General Sanders said.
“To that end, I am also determined that we do our utmost to maintain the currency and competency of those affected by our decision to gift these platforms.
“The government is committed to a modernised army that has learnt the lessons of the war in Ukraine and emerges from a period of accelerated investment more lethal, more survivable and able to fight more effectively as part of a joint force.
“This is the army our nation needs; this is the army you deserve.”
The UK is considering supplying Ukraine with British tanks for the first time to fight Russia’s invading forces, Sky News understands.
Discussions have been taking place “for a few weeks” about delivering a number of the British Army’s Challenger 2 main battle tank to the Ukrainian armed forces, a Western source with knowledge of the conversations said.
Such a move would mark a significant step-up in Western support to Ukraine and could help prompt other NATO allies, in particular Germany, to follow suit.
“It would encourage others to give tanks,” a Ukrainian source said.
No final decision has yet been made by Rishi Sunak’s government, but if the UK did sign off on such a delivery it would become the first nation to respond to pleas from Ukrainian leaders to equip their military with powerful Western tanks.
A US-led grouping of some 50 nations – including the UK – that is delivering military support to Ukraine is due to hold its next meeting on 20 January. Any announcements about new assistance, such as tanks, could be made to coincide with the Contact Group gathering.
One source suggested Britain might offer around 10 Challenger 2 tanks – enough to equip a squadron.
The source said this in itself would not be a “game changer” but it would still be hugely significant because the move would breach a barrier that has so far prevented allies from offering up Western tanks to Ukraine for fear of being seen as overly escalatory by Russia.
That could in turn prompt other allies to do the same, sources said.
Image: A Leopard II battle tank
Leopard II tanks used by several European allies
“It will be a good precedent to demonstrate [to] others – to Germany first of all, with their Leopards… and Abrams from the United States,” the Ukrainian source said.
Ukraine has long requested the mass-produced, German-made Leopard II tanks, used by several European allies, including Germany, Poland, Finland, the Netherlands and Spain.
Warsaw and Helsinki have already signalled a willingness to supply their Leopard tanks to Kyiv but this requires approval from Berlin because Germany holds the export licence.
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, has adopted a more cautious approach to equipping Ukraine with weapons than other countries such as the UK and the United States.
But he has slowly been ramping up his country’s assistance.
Germany and US promise armoured combat vehicles
Last week, Berlin and Washington said in a joint statement that they would supply Ukraine with armoured combat vehicles in an important policy shift. For Germany, this means the Mardar infantry fighting vehicle. For the US, it comprises the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
Over the weekend, the economy minister said that Berlin cannot rule out the delivery of Leopard tanks, which are heavier fighting vehicles than the Mardar. But a German government spokesperson on Monday said it has no current plans to send tanks.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence would neither confirm nor deny that the British government was considering supplying Ukraine with tanks.
A spokesperson said: “The government has committed to match or exceed last year’s funding for military aid to Ukraine in 2023, and we will continue to build on recent donations with training and further gifting of equipment.
“We have provided over 200 armoured vehicles to Ukraine to date – including Stormer vehicles armed with Starstreak missiles.
“We have also donated tens of thousands of items including helmets and body armour, mobility and logistics vehicles, anti-tank weapons, air defence missiles and systems, winter and medical equipment.”
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Last year, the UK sent 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Poland as part of a deal to help Ukraine by freeing up capacity for Warsaw to supply its Soviet-era T-72 tanks to Kyiv.
In service since 1994, the Challenger 2 tank weighs 62.5 tonnes and is armed with a 120mm rifled gun and a 7.62mm chain gun.
A squadron of Challenger tanks is currently in Estonia as part of a NATO mission in eastern Europe to deter Russian aggression. The Challenger 2 has previously been deployed in Bosnia and during the 2003 Iraq war.
Colonel Hamish de Bretton Gordon, a former commander of 1st Royal Tank Regiment, said the introduction of Western tanks could “tip the balance” on the battlefield in Ukraine’s favour.
“Strategically this sends a very firm message to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that nothing is off the table,” he said.
“Challenger 2 and Leopard II are modern tanks. They are much better protected, more reliable, quicker,” he added.
Read more: Why is Bakhmut so important to Russia? Putin’s ceasefire is useful for a different reason
By contrast, Ukraine’s military is operating Soviet-era tanks like the T-72, including some that have already been supplied by partners that also use them.
Russia’s military has also largely been relying on tanks manufactured during the Cold War.
The UK’s Challenger tanks – while modern by comparison – were last updated in the 1990s and are themselves in the process of being upgraded again. Ukrainian soldiers would need to be trained up on how to operate and maintain them.
Russia said on Monday that new deliveries of Western weapons to Kyiv would “deepen the suffering of the Ukrainian people” and would not change the course of the conflict.
