After arriving from the Ukrainian fronts, 105 Ukrainian servicemen began in Poland, at a specially configured base, intensive training on Leopard tanks provided by Polish, Canadian and Norwegian trainers, organizers and participants of the project said.

Germany and its allies will deliver to the Ukrainian military the equipment to form a first armored battalion with modern German-made heavy tanks by April, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said last week.

“These are very experienced tank crews, they came here straight from the front” in Ukraine, where they are fighting the Russian army, said Polish President Andrzej Duda, who visited them yesterday in Swiedoszow, southwestern Poland.

“You only have to look at their faces, you understand that they have experienced terrible things, but they are absolutely determined to defend their country,” added Mr. Duda.

The military are learning the theory, for the practice they still use simulators, however, some watched yesterday a demonstration in a local exercise field of the tanks they will receive.

“So far I can say that this is a high quality tank, very good. And what I like is that our soldiers like it,” Ukrainian Major Vadim Khodak told the press.

According to him, these tanks will provide “great support” to the Ukrainian army.

“I hope that when we reach the front line with this equipment, many lives of our soldiers will be saved and we will be closer to victory,” he said.

Under normal conditions, this kind of training takes at least two months, but that of the Ukrainian military is much more intensive, it will be condensed into one month.

The Ukrainians train “about 10 to 12 hours a day, from Monday to Saturday,” Polish instructor Krystof Seratski told the press.

According to him, 21 four-man crews and technicians, in other words 105 military personnel in total, are participating in the training, in the tanks that will be delivered from Poland and Canada.

Ukrainian soldiers have been surprised “by the simplicity of the construction and the ergonomics of the crew quarters,” Mr Seratsky said. “And they don’t need anyone to motivate them, we probably need to slow them down a bit,” he added.

According to the Polish Minister of Defense Mariusz Blaszczak, the main issue is securing spare parts for the tanks. An issue he will raise today during his meeting with Mr. Pistorius today in Brussels.