In a factory surrounded by run-down buildings, hundreds of Polish technicians are working around the clock to repair Ukraine’s artillery and armory so that they can be returned to the front. The air inside the plant, which is the size of a soccer field, is thick with metallic and oily scents. One of the main focuses of staff inside the plant is repairing the Krab howitzers damaged in the war.
The painstaking repair job can take up to two months. Details of the plant’s whereabouts cannot be made public, but the mechanics inside are in constant contact with technicians in Ukraine through codified applications, teaching their counterparts how to repair all kinds of weapons, from tanks to missiles.
Polish officials expect that Poland will play a key role in the repair and maintenance of the Leopard tanks that are to be delivered to Ukraine from Europe in the coming months. The Polish arms industry has considerable experience with this tank. It is also likely that the U.S. Abrams tanks for Ukraine will be serviced in the city of Poznań.
According to the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, an independent think tank in Poland, there can be little doubt that Poland is a leader with regard to repairing military equipment used by Ukraine in the war.
The plant at which the repair work is being carried out by 400 workers is under the protection of Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW). Its task is to stop the type of sabotage that has occurred in Bulgaria and Czechia. All the employees at the plant and anyone visiting it have to be Polish citizens, and the vetting process for the staff is extensive.
