A short film on Twitter: a column moving through one of the Polish cities – a huge, camouflaged truck dragging a long fourteen-wheel platform carrying a solid tank. The caption reads: “More of our T-72 tanks are going to Ukraine”. Everybody knows that Poland supplies Ukraine with arms. What have we sent on the Dnieper – and what are the implications for our country as well?
The easiest way to explain it is to quote the Global Firepower ranking. Ukraine is there currently ranked 15th in the world – it means that over the past year it has “jumped” more than 10 places. It is obvious as she defends herself very effectively against the Russians. The Polish military power has come in the 20th, so by a few places better than just a year ago – despite handing to Ukraine some of its armament. Russia is still second (after US) but is surely results from her having nuclear weapon.
A meticulous analysis of what we have given to the Ukrainians is not an easy one. The cause of it seems quite simple: for obvious reasons we don’t want the Russians to know precisely what and in what quantity we send to Ukraine. General information is easily available but the details are shrouded in mystery. And so it shall remain.
Secret facilities in southern Poland
The leading Canadian newspaper “Globe and Mail” has described mysterious warehouses repairing Ukrainian military equipment. They were shown on condition that the journalists didn’t disclose their location. Earlier on a similar (or maybe the same?) plant was written about by an American newspaper pointing out that it was located somewhere in south-eastern Poland. Apparently it has been equipped hastily: “the buildings are in as bad a shape as the armour that is dragged in. The vast main hall has a dirt floor. Many of the upper windows are missing, allowing chilly air to waft through the building. A dozen or so soldier mechanics, each of them covered in dirt, diesel fuel and grease, some of them smoking, banged away on the machines’ enormous diesel engines. Parts and coiled-up tank treads were strewn everywhere”.
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