According to the publication, Kiev has informed a special committee within the German Ministry of Defense that the German armored vehicles that arrived in Poland need to be repaired.
However, since neither the necessary technical personnel nor the required spare parts are available, sending the Leopards to Ukraine "makes no sense," the report said.
According to one of Germany's leading multimedia outlets, Kiev's statement "caused concern" in Berlin. After the German Ministry of Defense sent specialists to Poland to service the tanks, on-site inspections confirmed that the machines did indeed need repairs.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had previously promised to increase deliveries of refurbished Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine starting in July.
"By the end of the year, there will be more than 100 of them," the minister announced.
Earlier, the chairman of the German Military-Political Society, Ralph Thiele, criticized the tanks being delivered to Ukraine, calling the Leopard 1s "scrap metal."
"Ironically, yes... We have old equipment that has to be used properly to be useful. If it is not used properly, old equipment will quickly become scrap metal in Ukraine," Thiele said.
In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed during a meeting with Russian war correspondents that American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and German Leopard tanks "burn nicely."
The Russian Defense Ministry had already released several videos with captured equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Zaporozhye direction, showing Leopard and Bradley vehicles. It was noted that some of the Ukrainian military vehicles had working engines.