German arms manufacturer, Rheinmetall, is building a service and logistics hub in Romania, on the border with Ukraine, to overhaul NATO weapons that are funneled to the Kiev regime.
The hub in Satu Mare, in the region of Maramures, is expected to start functioning by April, the company was cited as saying.
"The service hub should play a central role in maintaining the operational readiness of Western combat systems in use in Ukraine and ensuring the availability of logistical support," said a company spokesperson.
The hub will be providing maintenance support for weapons such as self-propelled howitzers, Leopard 2 and Challenger tanks, Marder infantry fighting vehicles, Fuchs armored transport vehicles and military trucks.
Rheinmetall MAN 8x8 tactical truck at the Edvard Peperko Military Post of the Slovenian Army.
© AFP 2023 / JURE MAKOVEC
CEO of the weapons maker Armin Papperger said in a media statement:
"It is a key concern for us at Rheinmetall to provide the NATO forces and Ukraine with the best possible support."
The German arms manufacturer previously set up a similar maintenance hub for NATO vehicles in Lithuania in June 2022.
Since Russia embarked on its special military operation in Ukraine, Western countries have been supplying Kiev with a broad range of weapon systems, including air defense missiles, multiple launch rocket systems, tanks, self-propelled artillery and anti-aircraft guns. With this in mind, the UK recently announced it would provide the Kiev regime with depleted uranium tank ammunition, including armor-piercing shells for the 14 Challenger 2 battle tanks that the UK is planning to supply to the Zelensky regime.
Meanwhile, early in March, Germany's Rheinmetall announced it was in "promising" talks with Kiev on the construction of a tank plant to the tune of 200 million euros ($213 million) in Ukraine.
"A Rheinmetall plant could be built in Ukraine for about 200 million euros," Armin Papperger, the company's CEO, told German media.
Such a plant would be able to produce as many as 400 Panther tanks per year, with the defense company's chief voicing hope that a final decision on the deal would be made "in the next two months."
As tens of billions of dollars worth of military equipment roll into the Kiev regime's hands to fuel a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, Moscow has been relentlessly emphasizing that such arms deliveries are unlikely to contribute to a peaceful resolution. Furthermore, the Kremlin warned that the collective West's military support for the Zelensky regime risked full-scale NATO involvement in the fighting.