Ukraine conflict: Germany to supply PzH 2000s to Kyiv

Training of more than 60 Ukrainian soldiers on the PzH 2000 SPH was scheduled to begin in the week of 9 May at the Bundeswehr's artillery school in Idar-Oberstein. (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann)

Training of the Ukrainian artillery crews on the Panzerhaubitze (PzH) 2000 155 mm self-propelled howitzer (SPH) was scheduled to begin in the week of 9 May following German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht's announcement that Berlin would supply Kyiv with seven of the systems. She told a press conference in Sliac, Slovakia, on 6 May that the SPHs would come from the German Army's pool of weapons, which are in maintenance, so their transfer to Ukraine would not adversely affect the Bundeswehr.

The German Army said on its website on 6 May that seven German PzH 2000s would be sent to Ukraine along with five from the Netherlands.

Ukrainian soldiers will be trained on the SPH at the Bundeswehr's artillery school in Idar-Oberstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, southwestern Germany. The training will be conducted by the Bundeswehr together with its Dutch counterparts.

The German Army said that initially 20 Ukrainian soldiers with SPH experience would be trained. On 10 May the German press agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported that Ukrainian crews and technical specialists had flown from Poland to Zweibrücken airport in Rhineland-Palatinate the day before. Training of more than 60 Ukrainian personnel, including specialists and translators, will take up to 40 days, depending on their experience, according to dpa.