‘Grateful for fantastic tanks,’ Ukraine’s defence minister tells UK’s Ben Wallace

Kyiv: Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov on Tuesday thanked the United Kingdom as he took a ride in what he said was the first British Challenger 2 main battle tank to arrive in Ukraine.Britain had announced in January that it would send 14 of the tanks to Ukraine, which is preparing for a possible counter-offensive against Russian forces that invaded the country 13 months ago in February 2022.The Ukrainian defence minister wrote on Twitter that the tanks had “recently arrived in our country” and posted a video that showed him sitting in one of a long line of tanks in an open field, all of them flying Ukraine’s yellow and blue flag.“It was a pleasure to take the first Ukrainian Challenger 2 MBT (main battle tank) for a spin,” Reznikov wrote. “These fantastic machines will soon begin their combat missions.”In the video, he can be seen showing the thumbs up sign and thanking British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace for the much-needed tanks.“Marvellous, Ben,” he said in English. “It's...very good stuff. Thank you very much from Ukraine to the United Kingdom.”Germany’s defence ministry said on Monday that 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks and 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles had also arrived in Ukraine as part of the second tranche of military aid to the war-torn nation.Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.