DONETSK, January 16. /TASS/. The Western tanks that are going to be supplied to Ukraine will most probably have foreign crews, a military-political expert from the Donetsk People’s Republic, Yan Gagin, told TASS on Monday.

"We can assume that in this case foreigners will most likely be commissioned to operate this equipment in hostilities. Should these tanks emerge on the frontline in a couple of weeks, then most likely their crews will be foreign - either mercenaries or military personnel from NATO countries disguised as mercenaries," Gagin speculated.

The expert believes that such Western equipment will not affect the situation on the frontline, though. Russian units, he said, have an advantage over the enemy in hardware and possess serious capabilities for hitting armored targets.

On November 15, Britain announced its decision to send 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine in the coming weeks. On January 6, the United States announced the allocation of another $3 billion in military support to Kiev. This package will include Bradley tracked infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled howitzers. Earlier, Germany said that it intended to supply Kiev with a batch of Marder infantry fighting vehicles. France is going to send AMX-10 RC wheeled tanks to Ukraine.