Kyiv chides Berlin with a humorous tank promotional video

It seems that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a former comedian, has not lost his sense of humour. Amidst the current debate on if Europe, and Germany in particular, should send tanks to Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence has released a light-hearted promotional video suggesting a solution: reclassify them as “recreational vehicles.”

The video gently chides Germany, which has been very reluctant to send its modern main battle tank the Leopard to Ukraine for fear of provoking a full-scale war between Russia and Nato.

Last week German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Berlin has no plans to send tanks to the conflict this year. This week Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Poland would supply some of its 250 Leopards to Kyiv during a summit held in Lviv, but Warsaw needs Berlin’s permission to do so, which is unlikely to be forthcoming.

Kyiv has also requested heavier vehicles such as the Leopards, which could be a game-changer in battles like that raging in Bakhmut at the moment.