Following the "Ramstein" meeting on February 12, 2025, the United Kingdom announced that by the spring of 2025, it would provide the Ukrainian Armed Forces with a package of assistance that includes "50 protected and armored vehicles, including T-72 tanks."
At this point, particularly regarding the T-72, there is a unique intrigue. It's not only about the potential quantity of tanks but also about where the British could source such tanks to assist our military, and who in Europe might still possess Soviet-era main battle tanks.
To begin with, it should be specified that public sources do not indicate that the United Kingdom has previously purchased T-72 tanks in significant quantities for its own needs; the tank museum in Bovington has two tanks of this type, one of which is only displayed statically.
It is also important to clarify that the joint initiative from the USA and the Netherlands to restore and modernize a total of 90 T-72EA tanks at the Czech Excalibur Army facilities is a separate story, in which the British are not involved. Furthermore, recent news following the last "Ramstein" meeting mentioned that the last of the planned 90 T-72EA tanks are expected to be delivered to the Ukrainian Armed Forces soon.
Therefore, the basic hypothesis that emerges here is that the United Kingdom might have "unearthed" a certain number of T-72 tanks for the Ukrainian Armed Forces either from the stocks of the Czech Excalibur Army or from the reserves of other Eastern European countries, such as Romania.
If we consider the data from The Military Balance 2024, we can clearly see that even at the beginning of the previous year, the number of available T-72 tanks and operator countries in Europe was extremely limited, and consequently, the ability to "share" Warsaw Pact standard tanks was also very restricted.
For instance, according to this reference, Poland currently does not have any T-72 tanks at its disposal, Bulgaria has approximately 90 T-72M1/M2 (the technical condition is unclear), the Czech Republic has 30 T-72M4CZ (but this country has already provided us with 62 of its tanks and has restored another 136 T-72AE tanks at its facilities), Hungary has 44 T-72 tanks, and Slovakia has 30 T-72M (however, the last two countries are not providing military assistance to our country).
Against this backdrop, the hypothesis arises that for the new assistance package to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the British might have sourced T-72 tanks from storage facilities somewhere in Eastern Europe.
Moreover, there is another point to consider: according to some reports, as of February 2022, Romania had up to 30 T-72 tanks in storage, which were decommissioned in the 2000s; the current status of these tanks is unclear. Therefore, it should not be ruled out that these tanks could ultimately be used for defensive support to Ukraine.
