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Promised tanks arrive in Ukraine from Germany and Britain.

The deliveries of advanced equipment are expected to assist Kyiv with a potential spring offensive.

A Leopard 2 tank is seen rolling smoke and sparks.
A Leopard 2 tank in Augustdorf, Germany, last month.Credit...Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Ukraine has begun receiving the bulk of the advanced battle tanks it has been promised by its Western allies.

Germany has delivered Leopard 2 battle tanks it agreed to provide Kyiv, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany said on Monday. And Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said his armed forces had also welcomed “a new addition to our armored units” — Challenger tanks from Britain.

It is a highly anticipated delivery of advanced equipment as Ukraine prepares for an expected spring offensive.

The German-made Leopard 2 is more advanced than the Soviet-era tanks that Ukraine has relied on in battle so far. Leopard tanks have been used by the German Army for decades and by the militaries of more than a dozen other European nations. That includes Poland, which had already delivered Leopard tanks to Kyiv after prodding its allies to provide more advanced equipment to Ukraine’s military.

Ukraine had long sought advanced battle tanks from Western allies, which declined to provide the more powerful equipment out of concern that it could escalate the conflict. But Britain pledged 14 Challenger 2 tanks in January, a promise that was aimed at persuading other countries to follow suit.

On Monday, Mr. Reznikov posted a statement on Facebook saying that he had ridden in one newly arrived Challenger, comparing it to a Rolls-Royce. A spokeswoman for Ukraine’s defense ministry, Iryna Zolotar, confirmed to Agence France-Presse on Monday that Ukraine had received the Challengers.

No one would have thought a year ago that Ukraine would receive such strong support, Mr. Reznikov said as he hailed the arrival of the Challengers. Ukraine’s roster of combat vehicles includes Stryker vehicles from the United States and Marder vehicles from Germany.

Mr. Scholz confirmed the delivery of the German tanks after the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reported the delivery of 18 tanks. He had initially resisted sending the Leopards, while also blocking other European countries from sending Leopard tanks they had purchased from Germany. But in January, he reversed course, agreeing to deliver them to Ukraine when the United States said it would provide its own Abrams tanks.

The first round of Abrams tanks — older, refurbished M1A1 models — are expected to arrive this fall. The United States said in January that it would also send about 30 newer M1A2 models, but those are expected to take longer.

Carly Olson is a reporting fellow on the Live desk at The Times. More about Carly Olson

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