State Duma points to 'old' equipment in Germany's aid package to Ukraine

NATO countries, particularly Germany, are handing over old and unreliable equipment to Ukraine that they no longer need. This was pointed out by the first deputy chairman of the State Duma defense committee, Aleksey Zhuravlev, in a conversation with Izvestiya on 2 December.

Earlier in the day, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a new €650 million military aid package at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose powers expired in May.

"Against the background of American spending on Ukraine, the German €650 million does not look very impressive, and the European press also specifies that the package includes only second-hand, old and not too reliable military equipment. The military-industrial complex of NATO countries has become accustomed to selling to the Ukrainian army what should be liquidated as illiquid," Zhuravlev commented.

He also pointed out that from a political point of view, Scholz's visit to Kiev is an absolute loss for him, since it was against the background of disputes over Ukraine's financing that the ruling coalition "Svetofor" collapsed in Germany.

"Pre-election chances of the chancellor himself are melting before our eyes - in the east of the country are very strong positions of "Alternative for Germany", which is generally in favor of stopping all these supplies", - added the interlocutor of the publication.

Also on Monday, the German Defense Ministry said that the military aid package to Ukraine will include IRIS-T air defense systems, Leopard 1 tanks, as well as reconnaissance and attack drones. The Leopard 1 was used by the German army mainly until the 1980s. It was completely removed from the country's armament in 2003.

Earlier, on November 26, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers that Germany was ready to transfer two more IRIS-T systems to Ukraine. One of them will be medium-range, and the second - short-range, the equipment should be delivered in December.

At the same time, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on November 24 pointed to the superiority of the Russian Federation over the EU in the production of shells. He noted that the Russian defense industry produces as many shells in three months as the EU countries are able to make in a year. In addition, Pistorius drew attention to the increasing scale of the Ukrainian conflict.

Western countries have increased military and financial support for Kiev against the background of the Russian special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.