Morocco Denies Authorizing Transfer of Soviet-Era Tanks to Ukraine, Russian Expert Claims

"These tanks were transferred to a third party without Morocco’s consent, which had paid for their repair and modernization," said the Russian military expert in an interview with Arab News, thus confirming the information published by some media including Bladi.net. Morocco’s acquisition of 150 T-72B tanks from Belarus dates back to 1999-2000. In total, 130 tanks were shipped to the Czech Republic for modernization under a contract with the Czech company Excalibur Army. But Morocco only received 56. There were therefore 74 tanks left in the Czech Republic, 20 of which were transferred to Ukraine in violation of the contract. So, without Rabat’s effective agreement.

The transfer by the Czech Republic of Moroccan tanks to Ukraine is a "flagrant act of state racketeering, even state terrorism," denounced Konstantin Sivkov, stating that Prague had violated international law.