The facility is located at the Bumar-Łabędy tank plant in the southern Polish city of Gliwice, the European Pravda website reported on Monday.
Poland’s Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak announced the launch of the maintenance and service hub via Twitter on Friday.
He wrote: “The maintenance hub in Gliwice has kicked off its activity. The first two Leopards have already arrived at the Bumar plant from Ukraine.”
On Monday, Mitko Müller, the spokesman for the German Defence Ministry, confirmed that Warsaw and Berlin had reached an agreement to set up the repair facility, European Pravda reported.
The German official said: "We welcome the fact that now Ukrainian Leopard 2A4 tanks can also be repaired in Poland.”
Müller also did not rule out the option that the more modern versions of the German-made Leopard main battle tank, such as Leopard 2A5 and Leopard 2A6, could be repaired outside Germany in the future, according to European Pravda.
In April, Poland, Ukraine and Germany signed a letter of intent on the establishment of a maintenance facility for Leopard 2 tanks used on the battlefields of Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion.
Ukraine needs maintenance and repair facilities for its Western-provided main battle tanks, which wear out quickly during Kyiv’s ongoing summer counteroffensive against the invading Russian forces, the Euromaidan Press website reported.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Monday is day 516 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: eurointegration.com.ua, euromaidanpress.com, tech.wp.pl