The German-made Gepard anti-aircraft guns have finally arrived at the front line in Ukraine after a months-long epic that caused a political scandal in Berlin.

Earlier on Wednesday, the first video images of German armored vehicles, which are in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, appeared on social networks, and the administrators of the Ukraine Weapons Tracker page remind that they are considered very capable against low-altitude and ground targets.

On May 20, the German government announced that the first 15 Gepard armored vehicles would arrive in Ukraine in July, while Berlin’s Defense Minister Christine Lambrech said Germany would also send 7 Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers to Kyiv.

In early June, the German government announced that it would supply Ukraine with the IRIS-T air defense system, the most advanced of its armed forces.

The announcements followed a media firestorm that sparked a political scandal in Berlin.

The scandal surrounding heavy weapons intended for Ukraine

The Bild tabloid, Germany’s most popular daily, obtained a document on April 21 that showed the government led by Prime Minister Olaf Scholz had halved a list of weapons and equipment compiled by the Bundeswehr, the German military, that Kyiv had requested. and could be sent to Ukraine.

The official document shows that Scholz’s government effectively prevented the delivery of heavy weapons from Germany to Ukraine. On the instructions of the chancellery, Lambrekh’s Ministry of Defense excluded all heavy weapons requested by Kyiv from the so-called “industrial list” of German arms manufacturers.

A few days before the document appeared in the press, Olaf Scholz was asked at a press conference whether Ukraine should also receive heavy weapons from NATO. “Yes, but…” – answered the Chancellor of Germany.

Since last December, Ukraine has accused the Scholz government of preventing it from buying NATO military equipment, despite the threat of a Russian invasion.

“Don’t provoke Russia – this strategy doesn’t work and won’t work,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov warned at the time, recalling that Moscow invaded Georgia after Germany and France blocked the country’s entry into NATO in 2008.

On April 26, 5 days after the document was leaked to the press about the weapons that Germany can supply to Ukraine, the AFP agency, citing an anonymous source close to the government in Berlin, reported that Kyiv would receive Gepard armored vehicles from the Bundeswehr. stock up

Gepard armored vehicles arrived in Ukraine, but with problems

Another investigation published by the German press in late July claimed that Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers and Gepard armored personnel carriers were already experiencing problems, even though they had only been on the front for a month.

According to Die Welt, Ukraine has told the German defense ministry that some of its seven Panzerhaubitze 2000 guns are displaying error messages after heavy shelling of Russian positions – a sign that they need repairs.

The German military believes that the problems are related to the high rate of fire of the Ukrainian armed forces, which use these weapons in the fight against the Russian invaders. As a result, the howitzer charging mechanism is subjected to a huge load.

Problems also arose with the replenishment of ammunition for anti-aircraft guns “Cheetah”. During tests in Germany, it turned out that the armored vehicle does not recognize the ammunition of the Norwegian manufacturer, so the shells must be improved.

In August, the ammunition was to be tested again. According to the footage that is now appearing on social networks, the tests may have been successful, although the footage does not show how the armored vehicle actually fires.

In early August, Spain announced it would no longer send to Ukraine the German-made Leopard tanks it had promised the government in Kyiv, saying they were in a “completely unsatisfactory” condition.

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