The Biden administration will work with allies to transfer Soviet-made tanks to bolster Ukrainian defenses in the country’s eastern Donbas region, a U.S. official said on April 1, echoed by Helen Cooper in The New York Times. It comes in response to a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Reports are indeed emerging that the U.S. will broker transfers of T-72 tanks from NATO countries’ Soviet-era stocks to Ukraine, Stetson Payne reports in The Drive.
Helene Cooper in the New York Times first reported on this potential transfer. While the Ukrainians inherited many T-72s after the Soviet Union’s collapse, its army has favored the T-64 and T-80, alongside T-72s. These tanks have faced down the Russian Army’s own T-72s, as well as other types, hundreds of which rolled over the border nearly six weeks ago.
The T-72 is a relevant choice for Ukraine not just due to availability but also due to its widespread use and ease of maintenance, Stetson Payne writes. The relatively simple design is highly supportable in the field without advanced training and Russia has already dumped many T-72s into Ukrainian hands. There are many more that have been damaged but are still a good spare parts source. Ukraine also has a lot of experience locally upgrading the type. As such, bolstering this already growing and readily sustainable force seems like a highly logical move.
Hence, a transfer of T-72s to the Ukrainian army is possible. The move, if accurate, no doubt represents an escalation in weapons transfers to Ukraine, Stetson Payne comments. Of NATO’s T-72 owners, many are in reserve or are actively being replaced by more capable and far more modern western tanks. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia all operate the tank and have some in storage. Unlike fighter jets that could only be transferred with an elevated risk of escalation and a huge logistical effort, main battle tanks can cross the border fully assembled and ready to go via trains, trucks, or motoring on their own power.