Berlin reportedly can’t deliver hundreds of promised MRAP personnel carriers due to red tape and a lack of documentation
Germany has failed to deliver hundreds of MRAP personnel carriers to Ukraine as promised, Bild has claimed. Berlin has reportedly postponed delivery dates for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles several times due to documentation-related issues.
Since the start of the military conflict between Kiev and Moscow in February 2022, Germany has gradually emerged as one of Ukraine’s top suppliers of military hardware and weapons. Assets donated to Ukraine by Berlin have included Leopard tanks and self-propelled howitzers.
Russia has repeatedly stated that no amount of Western arms can change the course of the conflict, but such supplies unnecessarily increase the risk of a direct confrontation between NATO and Moscow.
In its article on Monday, Bild alleged that the German government was planning to provide Ukraine with up to 400 MRAPs purchased from the German arms manufacturer FFG. The media outlet quoted a German Defense Ministry spokesperson confirming that Berlin would finance the $335 million contract, with the vehicles expected to arrive in Ukraine this year.
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However, the actual delivery of the MRAPs has hit a snag, the article reported. According to a secret Defense Ministry document cited by Bild, the first 20 vehicles should have been provided to Kiev in January, followed by equal batches every month thereafter until October 2024.
The Defense Ministry spokesperson reportedly told reporters that “so far no vehicles of this type have been delivered” to Ukraine. The media outlet claimed that the initial plans had been revised, with the first shipments presumably postponed until May, and then this deadline was once again put off to June.
The article alleged that the delays were due to the fact that FGG does not actually produce MRAPs from scratch, but rather receives key parts, some of which are already mounted, from the US. The media outlet quoted anonymous sources within the Defense Ministry as attributing the supposed hold-up to “restrictive export licenses from the US to Germany.”