BERLIN, June 13. /TASS/. Germany cannot replace every Leopard 2 tank that gets disabled in Ukraine but it will continue to supply Kiev with weapons, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told Bild on Tuesday.

"We cannot replace every tank that is being taken out," the German tabloid quoted him as saying. Commenting on reports about German-made military equipment being destroyed in Ukraine, he referred to the nature of war, where people get killed and weapons get destroyed. "This is why our support for Ukraine is so vital," he added.

"What we will do is increase the supplies of repaired Leopard 1A5 tanks starting from July. There will be more than 100 of those by the end of the year," Germany’s defense chief said. In February, the German government approved sending 178 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Kiev.

On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that that in the previous 24 hours, the Ukrainian army had lost nine tanks, including Leopards, and 11 infantry fighting vehicles, including US-made Bradley IFVs, in the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas.