Ukraine’s Eurovision finalists plead for Australian Hawkeis

The song features in the Ministry of Defence video, the latest step in an increasingly forceful “Free the Hawkei” campaign that has included rallies in capital cities across Australia and a billboard advertisement near Canberra airport.

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The campaign is modelled on the successful “Free the Leopard” movement that eventually convinced Germany to send its highly regarded Leopard tanks to the battlefield.

The Australian Army has privately advised the government that the vehicles cannot be sent to Ukraine because a braking fault means they have not reached full operational capability.

The Army has said the amount of parts required to sustain the vehicles in Ukraine would make the entire Australian fleet unusable.

“We would have to move the entire supply chain to Ukraine,” a source familiar with the army’s thinking said.

Liberal senator David Van, chair of the parliamentary Friends of Ukraine group, said it was “complete bollocks” that the vehicles could not be sent to Ukraine.

“There are 450 Hawkeis sitting in the Thales compound in Bendigo. Why won’t we send them?”

He said the braking issue only mattered when driving at 100 kilometres an hour on the road and would not affect Ukrainian soldiers given they would be driving at lower speeds on fields and in woodlands.

The package of assistance to be announced next week could possibly include donations of Australian Abrahms tanks.

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Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, said the main advantage of the Hawkei would be acting as a mobile launch platform for the Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System it is using on the battlefield.

“This state-of-the-art air defence system is already in use in Ukraine and proves to be a game changer in defending Ukrainian cities and civilians from aerial attacks,” he said.

Kateryna Argyrou, co-chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, said: “We urge the Australian government to free the Hawkei, so we can secure victory together”.

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