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UKRAINE

Activists park burnt-out tank outside Russian Embassy in Berlin

Anti-war activists on Friday parked a bombed-out Russian tank in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin, as thousands of protesters across Europe prepared to march against Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Published: 24 February 2023 16:32 CET
Russian tank outside Russian embassy
The wreck of a Russian tank destroyed near Kyiv, brought outside the Russian Embassy in Berlin. Photo courtesy of Enno Lenze

Enno Lenze and Wieland Giebel, who operate the Berlin Story Museum, said they had stationed the tank wreck by Russia’s imposing embassy off the Brandenburg Gate ‘as a symbol of Russia’s downfall’.

“We want to put their scrap metal in front of the gates of the terrorists,” said Giebel, who for months was caught in a bureaucratic tangle with Berlin authorities over the tank installation, after Lenze had the idea to bring it to Berlin after finding it at the side of the road near Kyiv.

The tank was damaged on March 31st last year near Bucha, the town near Kyiv which has become a byword for alleged Russian war crimes.

Sabine Ertl, a tourist on holiday in Berlin, said the tank was both “impressive and scary”.

“It brings this reality much closer,” she told AFP.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany Oleksii Makeiev was also on hand at the tank protest to thank Lenze and Giebel.

“Don’t panic,” he tweeted. “The Russian T-72 tank previously sighted in Berlin has already been destroyed by Ukrainian forces so this death machine could no longer pose a threat to the people of Europe.”

Admiring the protest action, one Twitter user quipped that the tank had been “returned to sender” after a failed delivery to Ukraine. “This Russian tank was refused acceptance in Ukraine and returned to the Russian Embassy in Berlin,” he wrote.

The demonstration not only drew the attention of passers by – a group of Ukrainian children also came to sing next to the destroyed military vehicle. 

Zelensky to speak to Ukraine’s supporters in Germany

At an event led by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier who underlined that Kyiv could count on Berlin, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky beamed in a message thanking Western allies for their support for his country.

Zelensky was also due to address demonstrators in Berlin later Friday via video-link. Massive pro-Ukraine demonstrations are scheduled to happen all over Germany late Friday afternoon.

READ ALSO: INTERVIEW: Germany must show ‘leadership and vision’ for Ukraine

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UKRAINE

German arms maker struggles to meet demand as Ukraine war rages

In a factory in a tranquil German village, 120 mm tank shells with black-painted tips, packed into wooden crates, sit on pallets waiting to be delivered to Ukraine.

Published: 8 June 2023 10:08 CEST
German arms maker struggles to meet demand as Ukraine war rages

Leading arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is racing to meet demand for weapons and ammunition to supply Kyiv, as well as Germany and  other NATO countries which are bolstering their defences after draining stockpiles.

In March, as intense fighting continued around Bakhmut, NATO’s chief said “we need to ramp up production” warning Ukraine’s usage is outstripping allies’ production capacity. 

“We are pulling out all the stops when it comes to production of ammunition for tanks,” said Harald Weismüller, head of the factory in Unterlüß, Lower Saxony.

Germany has long been a major arms maker and exporter, but in a country still haunted by guilt over Nazi atrocities in World War II, its manufacturers have kept a relatively low profile.

But as Russia’s war in Ukraine spurs demand, business is booming for Rheinmetall, which has seen orders surge and in March joined Frankfurt’s blue-chip DAX stock index.

The European Union has agreed on a plan to spend €2 billion on artillery shells for Ukraine to try to get a million rounds of artillery ammunition to the country over twelve months.

Kyiv had told the EU it needed 350,000 shells a month to support troops, saying its forces were having to ration firepower as the conflict turned into a grinding war of attrition.

READ ALSO: Germany unveils 2.7 bn euro weapons package for Ukraine

Among the wide array of armaments produced at Rheinmetall’s major Unterlüß plant are shells for Leopard 2 battle tanks, which can travel at
1,700 metres (5,580 feet) per second and pierce the armour of a Russian tank.

Between 400 and 500 shells can be produced in an eight-hour shift, and the rate could be increased, said Weismüller.

After huge pressure, Berlin agreed in January that German-made Leopards — for which Rheinmetall makes parts, and which are developed by manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann — could be sent to Ukraine. The first tanks were delivered in late March. 

New production lines

From 60,000 a year before the war, Rheinmetall has ramped up production to 240,000 of the tank shells annually.

The firm is Europe’s biggest manufacturer of ammunition for tanks and artillery, ahead of Norway’s Nammo and France’s Nexter.

This position will be cemented with the acquisition of Spain’s Expal, a leading manufacturer of 120 mm shells.

Such is the boom in demand that the company is sitting on a backlog of orders worth €18.5 billion — three times its sales in 2022.

As well as supplying Ukraine, Germany’s decision to beef up its armed forces in the wake of the Ukraine war is helping to drive the surge.

READ ALSO: German military has ‘too little of everything’

Rheinmetall Marder

A technician of German armaments company and automotive supplier Rheinmetall inspects an armored infantry fighting vehicle Marder at the Rheinmetall facility in Unterlüß. Photo: Axel Heimken / AFP

Rheinmetall estimates that Europe’s biggest economy will need to spend around €40 billion to replenish its stocks of armaments.

At Unterlüß, new machines are being installed and whole new production lines set up.

Equipment to make 35 mm shells fired by Gepard anti-aircraft tanks should begin production in less than six weeks, Weissmüller said, with up to 500,000 to be produced a year.

The shells are also produced in Switzerland but authorities in the traditionally neutral country have refused to allow their export to conflict zones.

The factory has also ramped up production of 155 mm shells for self-propelled howitzers, which can hit targets 25 kilometres away.

Elsewhere in the plant, old armoured vehicles, with patches of rust, have been completely dismantled, as workers prepare to refurbish them to be deployed once again on the battlefield.

This includes the Marder infantry fighting vehicle, dozens of which have already been sent to Ukraine.

Booming demand means the 2,400 staff at the site are working flat out, as the sound of shots ring out from Leopard 2 cannons being tested on an adjacent firing range, the largest in Europe.

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