08 January 2023, Sunday, 12:51 1088

Greece ready to refuse from German Marder IFVs in favor of Ukraine

Editor: Roman Vaniyan

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Greece is ready to refuse from the Marder Infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) in favor of Ukraine, which can speed up the delivery of these armored vehicles to Kyiv.

The European Pravda online media outlet writes about this with reference to Bild.

Last year, it was reported that Germany would send its IFVs to Greece, and Athens, in return, would give Kyiv IFV-1 of the Soviet era.

"The agreement on the exchange of combat armored vehicles from Germany to Greece and armored Infantry fighting vehicles from Greece to Ukraine is being implemented normally," said Greek National Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos.

According to Panagiotopoulos, to date Greece has supplied Ukraine with even more IFVs than was guaranteed by the contract: Greece received the first 14 Marder vehicles from Germany and delivered 20 IFVs to Ukraine.

"In January, we will receive even more Marder and deliver even more IFVs," the minister said.

According to him, currently, Greece can even do without supplies from Germany - in favor of Ukraine. According to Panagiotopoulos, Greece took a "clear position in favor of helping the Ukrainian people" from the very beginning.

According to a spokeswoman for the German Ministry of Defense, the Bundeswehr currently has about 370 Marders in service, but how many of them are suitable for combat is unknown. Some are used only as "donors" of spare parts or for training purposes.

Without enough of these IFVs, the Bundeswehr would not be able to meet its allied commitments on NATO's eastern flank in emergency situations, especially after the more modern Puma armored vehicles failed.

It will be recalled that Germany intends to provide the Armed Forces with a battery of MIM-104 Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems and Marder infantry fighting vehicles. And the Ukrainian military will receive a batch of M2 Bradley combat vehicles from the United States.