Now the first pictures of the combat helmets have appeared, which were proudly sent to the war zone by ÖVP Defense Minister Tanner. For soldiers working on a tank. The editor-in-chief of the ÖVP-affiliated Exxpress tries to calm down: It would only be “disaster guards”. Military experts burst out laughing at this claim.
Images are circulating on Twitter, as apparently the combat helmets donated by Austria are used in combat in Ukraine. Compare for yourself: These are the old helmets from Austrian stocks, 10,000 of which went to the Ukraine were donated.
The donation was considered controversial for a number of reasons. Many troop units allegedly did not yet have the successor models and were then – at least temporarily – without combat helmets. In addition, the question was asked whether a combat helmet would not also be a military item, which a neutral nation may not deliver to a war zone. At the time, the ÖVP didn’t really care, the helmets would only serve humanitarian purposes.
The editor-in-chief of the ÖVP-affiliated Exxpress tries to interpret the images in a somewhat idiosyncratic way. Supposedly the gentlemen in the pictures weren’t soldiers but disaster relief workers. It’s really entertaining, because disaster relief workers are definitely in dire need of combat vests and ammo pouches.
As such, it is not common to call in “disaster workers” to service tanks on combat missions. This is done by the regular tank crew or their auxiliaries, who are responsible for supplying ammunition and fuel. Actually, it is unthinkable to transfer such work to so-called “disaster workers”.
It could never be ruled out that the Austrian donations would end up in the hands of combat troops and be used there – the pictures suggest that this is exactly what happened.
