Armoured vehicles arrive in Spain's Bilbao before departing for Ukraine

Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles announced on Wednesday (February 1) the armoured vehicles would leave for Ukraine on Monday (February 6).

The armoured personnel carriers will first go to a Nato base in Latvia, local Spanish media reported on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the Spanish Defence Ministry did not comment further on the departure plans.

Spain also plans to send between four and six German-built Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine, the newspaper El Pais reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified government sources.

The actual number will depend on the condition of the battle tanks in storage and how many other countries will eventually supply to Ukraine, the sources told El Pais.

Kyiv secured pledges from the West this month to supply main battle tanks to help fend off Russia's invasion, with Moscow mounting considerable efforts to make incremental advances in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday (January 31) his government expects to receive 120 to 140 Western tanks from a coalition of 12 countries in a first wave.

Kuleba said those tanks would include German Leopard 2, British Challenger 2 and US M1 Abrams tanks, and that Ukraine was also "really counting" on supplies of French Leclerc tanks being agreed upon.

Reuters