Swiss investigate sighting of Swiss-built tank in Ukraine

A Ukrainian soldier takes cover on March 17 in front of a building hit by a Russian airstrike in Avdiivka, where a Swiss tank was reportedly seen Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

Pictures of one or two armoured vehicles apparently made by the Swiss manufacturer Mowag have appeared on the internet from the front in Ukraine.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), which is responsible for war materiel exports, is investigating whether there have been any violations of the ban on re-exports.

The picture made available by the media on a Ukrainian website makes it “difficult to draw any reliable conclusions about the type of vehicle and its location”, SECO said on Thursday in response to a reportExternal link in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) newspaper.

A conclusive reconstruction of the origin of the vehicle was only possible with the help of the chassis number, it said. This was not available, SECO wrote in response to a request from the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA.

According to SECO, the investigations so far have shown that at the end of June 1990 a total of 36 Eagle I armoured vehicles were exported to the Danish army by the manufacturer Mowag, based in Kreuzlingen, northeastern Switzerland. The export was carried out in accordance with the War Materiel Act in force at the time.

Denmark undertook in non-re-export declarations not to sell the vehicles to third countries without Swiss consent. On December 17, 2012, Denmark requested permission to re-export 27 vehicles to a German private company, which Switzerland permitted on April 5, 2013.

The German company, like Denmark before it, undertook not to re-export the vehicles. At the request of SECO and the foreign ministry, the Danish authorities confirmed that they had not passed on any Eagle scout vehicles without Switzerland’s consent.

Switzerland is currently in contact with Germany, SECO said on Thursday, adding that it was unclear when these clarifications would be completed.

Two sightings in Ukraine

The NZZ based its report on two photos from the internet. One was taken by Spanish war photographer José Colón and shows the suspected Mowag armoured car in front of the cultural centre of the small eastern Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar, a few kilometres behind the front line near Bakhmut.

The other picture of the vehicle, recognisable by its hatchback and side mirrors, was taken by the French news agency AFP on March 18 in the embattled town of Avdiivka and published a few days ago, according to the NZZ. It is unclear whether it is the same vehicle, the newspaper wrote. The NZZ verified the photos.

The War Materiel Act prohibits the transfer of armaments to states in an armed conflict and is controversial in Switzerland in connection with the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The government has reaffirmed the transfer ban on several occasions despite international pressure.

The wheeled tank specialist Mowag has belonged to the US defence company General Dynamics since 2003.