Journalists found and took photos of Leopard tanks, transfer of which was blocked by Swiss government
Swiss journalists showed photos and video from the place of storage of Leopard 1 A5 tanks, which were bought by the Swiss company RUAG in 2016 and are stored in Italy.
Regarding them, an investigation is being conducted in Switzerland over the intention to transfer these combat vehicles into the ownership of the German company Rheinmetall for further repair and shipment to Ukraine.
The photos were published by investigative journalists of the Swiss public TV channel RSI (part of the SRG holding), Ukrinform reports.
“They are parked in an open space and covered with green tarpaulins in a depot near Gorizia (city and administrative center of Gorizia province in northern Italy near the border with Sloveniaed – ed.)… There are at least 95 tanks, arranged in nine regular rows. Almost all of them - except for three vehicles - are protected by tarpaulins that fail to conceal their precise shape and thus their model: these are the 'Leopard 1s' purchased in 2016 by the Swiss public company RUAG. These are old vehicles that the Italian army wanted to get rid of,” the TV channel reported.
It is noted that RSI-Swiss TV publishes for the first time photos and videos of them.
“They (tanks – ed.) have been lying unused for years. They have neither been dismantled - to reuse their components - nor reconditioned, to make them operational,” the report says.
It is noted that RUAG had rejected RSI's request to show pictures or videos to actually verify their condition.
“The tarpaulins (with which the tanks are covered - ed.), however, make it impossible to assess whether they are rusty scrap metal or combat-ready tanks. There are glimpses of tracks that in some cases appear to be in good condition. In others, signs of time and fouling emerge. It is impossible to establish with any certainty the degree of effectiveness of the equipment and armaments,” the report says.
Moreover, RUAG itself says that the condition of tanks are “very bad” and these vehicles are not “suitable for war”.
“The Italian company Goriziane - in a video published on its website - shows that it can recondition a tank of this type in a month and a half. And make it operational. Ukraine now has a huge need for these Leopards, which are now in short supply in European arsenals. Germany, The Netherlands and Denmark, among others, were to buy them from Switzerland and ship them to Kyiv,” RSI noted.
The already signed contract, the text of which is available to RSI, says that RUAG would sell them to Rheinmetall if the government in Bern approves that.
“Which, however, never came. At the end of June - in the name of the defence of its neutrality - the Federal Council rejected the re-export request, considering them to be war material,” journalists say.
An investigation is ongoing in Switzerland.
“Defence Minister Viola Amherd wants to see this through. She has announced an independent investigation to try to shed light on the purchase from the Italian armed forces. But also on the attempted deal with the Germans a few months ago,” the investigators said.
As journalists note, for almost seven years, the tanks have remained under these green sheets, next to a cornfield.
As Ukrinform reported, on June 28, the Federal Council of Switzerland rejected RUAG SA's application for 96 Leopard 1 A5 tanks on the basis of neutrality legislation.
The specified tanks are now stored in Italy and are unserviceable. They were planned to be transported to Germany for modernization, and then sent to Ukraine as military aid.
Photo: RSI