MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. The supply of Leopard tanks to Kiev will have no effect on the Russian army’s progress in Donbass, military-political expert Yan Gagin said on the Rossiya-1 television channel on Thursday.

"The number of tanks in question is less than one battalion. It is very unlikely that this amount will significantly change the situation on this frontline. They will be available no earlier than the spring. I am certain that we will manage to build up success to a point where the supply of these weapons will play no role," said Gagin, an adviser to the DPR’s acting head.

A spokesman for the 96th operative regiment of Russia’s National Guard (Rosgvardiya) told TASS that the supply of Leopard tanks will not cause any problems for the Akhmat units in the zone of the special military operation.

"Our fighters are ready for the encounter with the Leopard tanks, which Poland has promised to provide to Ukraine. We do not believe that they will be very special. Our fighters will be able to set them on fire as any other Ukrainian armored vehicles. The Akhmat unit has everything necessary for this: grenade launchers, anti-tank missiles, and, most importantly, professionally competent and motivated fighters, who were trained at the Russian University of Special Forces," the spokesman said.

On Wednesday, Polish President Andrzej Duda, while speaking at a joint press conference with his Ukrainian and Lithuanian counterparts Vladimir Zelensky and Gitanas Nauseda in Lvov, said that Warsaw would hand over to Kiev a company of German-made Leopard tanks. Duda added that for this to happen a number of formal requirements needed to be met and coordination carried out.