British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Saturday that the United Kingdom will provide Ukraine with Challenger 2 tanks, making it the first Western country to supply the heavy tanks that Ukraine has been requesting. The announcement was met with a swift reaction from Russia, which warned that the move would only “intensify” the conflict in the region.
In a statement, the Russian embassy in the UK said “Bringing tanks to the conflict zone, far from drawing the hostilities to a close, will only serve to intensify combat operations, generating more casualties, including among the civilian population.”
Sunak stated that the tanks were a sign of the UK’s “ambition to intensify our support to Ukraine,” according to a readout of a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s European allies have sent over 300 modernized Soviet tanks to Kyiv.
