It took months of wrangling and it nearly didn’t happen ― but Ukraine will soon get some of the most <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/2023/01/26/challenger-and-abrams-tanks-will-excel-in-ukraine-after-decades-in-iraqs-harsh-deserts/" target="_blank">formidable tanks ever built</a>. At the start of the war in February 2022, Western aid focused on sending either <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2022/12/27/not-just-equipment-how-ukraine-war-is-reviving-old-lessons-of-conflict/" target="_blank">equipment the Ukrainian</a> military already used or items like night-vision and body armour that could quickly be assimilated. But that escalated. American howitzers, British missiles, European armoured personnel carriers and Turkish drones soon flowed. The American-made HIMARS rocket artillery system with a potential range of hundreds of kilometres was the most advanced delivery. And for a long time, there were still no <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/2023/01/26/abrams-and-challenger-tanks-made-to-beat-russia-why-muddy-ukraine-is-ideal-warzone/" target="_blank">tanks</a>. But then that changed. This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines-Young takes a closer look at how and why the West suddenly agreed to send its best battle tanks to Ukraine and what this means for the war as it approaches its one-year anniversary. We’ll also discuss the development with the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UAE Demitro Senik and hear from him about the toll fighting is having on his homeland.
