Old Soviet-era weapon known as 'Baby' will destroy Leopard tanks in Ukraine

According to military expert Alexei Leonkov, Russia has a very old, but highly efficient Soviet weapon that would be best to use against Leopard tanks that EU countries promised to deliver to Ukraine.

"The Kurds could destroy Leopards 2A4 tanks in Syria very well with the help of old, Soviet-era anti-tank guided missile systems (ATGM) called Malyutka (translates from Russian as 'baby' - ed.). They were so good at it the second army corps of the Turkish army abandoned the ground offensive operation, in which those tanks were involved. They opted to attack the Kurds from afar, with the use of artillery and missile systems,” Leonkov told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

Most likely, Polish mercenaries will be the first to operate the German tanks in Ukraine, the expert told the publication. The Ukrainian command will be able to use Leopard tanks for counterattacks. If Kyiv gets 200-300 extra pieces of military hardware, it will not be able to dramatically change the course of the special operation, he added.

Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, earlier called on the allies to take an important step forward in supporting Ukraine and provide the country with any weapons that could be used there.

On January 11, Polish President Andrzej Duda, after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, announced that Warsaw would ship new Leopard tanks to Kyiv.

Germany later responded that the supplies of Leopard tanks to Kyiv without the permission of the German government was illegal.

Armin Papperger, the head of Rheinmetall, a German arms maker, said that Kyiv would be able to get Leopard tanks no earlier than 2024, even if the decision on their supply to Ukraine would be made in the near future.