The Czech press reports that during the first months of 2025, the Czech Republic completed the transfer of the final 20 T-72 tanks in the possession of its armed forces to Ukraine. The shipment of these tanks by rail was captured in photographs.
On one hand, this is good news in itself, as it means that Ukraine will soon receive 20 additional Soviet-designed tanks. On the other hand, the entire process of transferring 86 T-72 tanks from the Czech Republic - the last 20 of which were sent only recently - began in August 2022 and ultimately took more than two years.
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According to an article by the Czech outlet HN, the final batch of T-72 tanks transferred to Ukraine came from the 73rd Battalion, which had continued to operate these vehicles earlier this year. Although the tanks were manufactured in the 1980s, they remained in good technical condition and therefore did not require additional refurbishment.
It is worth noting that the Czech Army will continue to operate 30 T-72M4CZ tanks, which are currently undergoing modernization scheduled for completion by December 31, 2025.
However, it has already been confirmed that the modernization will be carried out in a reduced form compared to the original plans. While the initial intention was to upgrade both the running gear and the fire control system, Czech forces will now have to limit the work to restoring only the running gear due to difficulties in sourcing components for the Italian-made fire control system.
At the same time, Czech officials have pointed out that the process of acquiring 77 new Leopard 2A8 tanks - worth 52 billion Czech korunas - “will take significantly more time” than the delivery of Leopard 2A4 tanks from Germany under the “ring exchange” program.
Defense Express emphasizes that, based on the situation described above, there appear to be two key reasons - one objective and one subjective - why the transfer of 86 T-72 tanks from the Czech Republic to Ukraine took so long.
The objective reason may lie in the limited capacity of the Czech defense industry to refurbish tanks that had been in storage for a prolonged period. The subjective reason, in turn, may be rooted in the Czech military’s desire to retain the tanks in the best technical condition for as long as possible.
In this context, it is worth recalling that by the end of 2023, the Czech Republic reported the direct transfer of 62 tanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine - some of which were produced as early as 1968 - which also raised questions about the specific types of vehicles delivered.
Read more: Where the UK Might Have Sourced T-72 Tanks for Ukraine, Which European Countries Still Have Them
