Beyond the Headlines: Why the West suddenly sent tanks to Ukraine

It took months of wrangling and it nearly didn’t happen ― but Ukraine will soon get some of the most formidable tanks ever built.

At the start of the war in February 2022, Western aid focused on sending either equipment the Ukrainian military already used or items like night-vision and body armour that could quickly be assimilated.

But that escalated. American howitzers, British missiles, European armoured personnel carriers and Turkish drones soon flowed.

The American-made HIMARS rocket artillery system with a potential range of hundreds of kilometres was the most advanced delivery.

And for a long time, there were still no tanks.

But then that changed.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines-Young takes a closer look at how and why the West suddenly agreed to send its best battle tanks to Ukraine and what this means for the war as it approaches its one-year anniversary.

We’ll also discuss the development with the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UAE Demitro Senik and hear from him about the toll fighting is having on his homeland.