Swiss-made armoured car spotted in Ukraine
An Eagle I armoured vehicle manufactured by the Swiss company Mowag was spotted in Ukrainian frontline cities. The country's authorities are now investigating how the vehicle could have gotten into Ukraine, as the company is neutral and does not transfer weapons to the warring parties.
Source: European Pravda, citing the Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Details: The wheeled armoured vehicle was caught in the lens of Spanish photographer Jose Colon, who was working in the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast. It was also spotted in a photo taken a few days ago by the AFP agency from Avdiivka.
Both cities are located near the current contact line. It is not known whether the pictures show the same Eagle I.
Earlier, Switzerland banned European countries from re-exporting their military equipment to Ukraine, so it is unclear how the Swiss equipment ended up in Ukraine, NZZ writes.
The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, which is in charge of issuing re-export permits, confirmed to SRF on Thursday that Denmark purchased 36 Eagle 1s about 30 years ago, 27 of which were later sold to a private German company.
The ministry added that the German company signed a non-export declaration and has not received any requests for the transfer of Eagle I tanks since then. Denmark also stated that it had not transferred any Eagle tanks purchased in Switzerland to Ukraine.
In response to the media reports, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs launched an investigation with Germany to further clarify the facts. They note that they cannot yet confirm that the photo shows a Swiss vehicle.
"The origin of the vehicle can only be determined with the help of the chassis number, which has not yet been provided," the department added.
Recently, the Swiss government confirmed that it would not change its long-standing policy prohibiting the transfer of Swiss-made weapons to third countries, including Ukraine.
On 8 March, the lower house of the Swiss parliament confirmed that the transfer of Swiss tank ammunition to Ukraine at Berlin's request should remain prohibited.
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