Denmark Sends Anti-Tank Mines, Armoured Vehicles and Mortar Shells to Ukraine

Russia has cautioned the West against arms deliveries its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described as “pouring oil on the fire” and warned that shipments to Kiev would be a “legitimate target” for Russian forces.

Denmark will support Ukraine with M113 armoured personnel carriers, anti-tank mines and mortar shells, Danish Radio reported.

The three weapon systems are part of the 600 million DKK ($85 million) arms donation which Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen promised Ukraine last week during her surprise visit to Kiev.

Whether the Danish arms aid has currently left the country and is on its way to Ukraine it is still unknown, and neither the Defence Command nor the Defence Ministry have provided any timeframe.

According to Danish Radio, since the prime minister's visit, the Danish Armed Forces have been reviewing which weapons systems in the warehouses can be useful in Ukraine.

Military researcher and Major Kristian Lindhardt from the Danish Defence Academy ventured that the Danish assistance “makes good military sense” in the field and has been chosen with respect for Ukraine's specific wishes and the battles currently fought in southern and eastern Ukraine.

The M113 armoured personnel carrier has been in use in the Danish defence since 1964, but has been modernised several times from the inside-out. According to the Armed Forces' website, the crew cars have, among other things, more powerful engines, new interiors and sturdier armour.

“It is a moving battle where there is a need to protect personnel to be transported from A to B through areas under fire. At the same time, it has a certain armament, and a mountable heavy machine gun”, Lindhardt told Danish Radio.

Anti-tank mines are powerful explosive devices designed to neutralise or stop heavy vehicles such as tanks, crews and trucks. They are mostly used in defensive combat, in order to stop or channel an opponent to a specific location which better suits the defenders.

Previously, Denmark expressed its support for Kiev's cause when it sent Ukraine 2,700 anti-tank launchers.

Russia started its special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February, with the idea to “demilitarise and de-Nazify” the country after Kiev intensified its eight-year-long war against the Russian-speaking breakaway republics of the Donbass region following months of failed negotiations.

Since the start of the conflict, Ukraine has enjoyed increasing arms deliveries from across the Western world, ranging from its immediate neighbours such as Poland and Slovakia to overseas NATO nations like the US, Australia and Canada. In a remarkable U-turn, Germany recently caved in to pressure from abroad and within and announced it would send tanks to Ukraine.

Commenting on Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has described them as “pouring oil on the fire”. He also warned that NATO is “in essence at war” with Moscow, adding that the shipments to Kiev would be a “legitimate target” for Russian forces.