MELITOPOL, January 26. /TASS/. Foreign specialists are likely to be commissioned to operate Western military equipment, to be supplied to the Ukrainian army, because there is no time to train national personnel, the leader of the movement We are together with Russia, Vladimir Rogov, told TASS.

"I am very skeptical this equipment will be able to play a big role in changing the situation on the frontline. I think that Western specialists, operators and even Western pilots will be brought to operate this equipment. I can imagine that in the future we will see, say, Canadian tank crews, Polish air pilots and German gunners. The regime of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky does not have such personnel. Retraining Ukrainian specialists will take months," Rogov said, when asked about possible deliveries to Ukraine of not only tanks, but also combat aircraft.

On January 25, the United States announced its intention to provide 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Kiev. The German government confirmed that it would send 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks to Ukraine from the Bundeswehr reserves and issue re-export permits to other countries. The defense ministries of Norway and Slovakia also announced their intention to dispatch tanks to Ukraine. Earlier, the decision to provide Kiev with tanks was announced by the authorities of Britain, France and Poland. After that, Zelensky said in a video message uploaded to the Telegram channel that Ukraine needed to "expand cooperation" and obtain long-range missiles and combat aircraft from the Western countries.