United to win: Latvian defense minister delivers 14 CVRT armored vehicles to Ukrainian forces
As part of the visit, Melnis met with Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi, commander of the Third Army Corps.
During the meeting, the minister personally handed over 14 CVRT armoured vehicles to Ukrainian troops. The vehicles had previously been in service with the Adazi Mechanized Infantry Brigade.
According to the Latvian minister, the transferred equipment will help Ukrainian defenders in the fight against Russia's aggression and contribute to saving the lives of servicemen.
"I am proud that Latvia has decided to transfer another batch of vehicles to provide soldiers with capability, mobility, firepower and protection so that they can defend Ukraine. I hope these vehicles will find the right place in defeating the enemy. If there is a need for training or any other assistance, we are ready," Melnis stressed.
The defense minister added that this is not the first batch of equipment provided by Latvia. The country has already transferred 42 Patria armoured personnel carriers.
"In terms of the volume of assistance, Latvia competes with the larger countries of Europe. This assistance arrives on time. It has its value. The previously delivered Patria vehicles have already achieved combat successes, advancing through and helping liberate kilometres of Ukrainian territory.
The Latvian side has always supplied equipment fully equipped — in other words, equipment straight out of the box that can be used here and now," added Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi, commander of the Third Army Corps.
Ukrainian servicemen expect that the British-made equipment will replace outdated Soviet models for defensive operations and special tasks near the front line in the Borova-Lyman direction. The vehicles will also be additionally equipped with protection systems against FPV drones.
As a sign of gratitude, Biletskyi presented the Defense Minister with a portrait of Petro Radzinskyi, a Latvian-born assistant to the Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, as well as documents bearing his signature.
"In terms of the volume of assistance, Latvia competes with the largest countries in Europe. This assistance arrives on time. It has its value. The previously delivered Patria vehicles have already achieved combat successes, advancing and helping liberate kilometres of Ukrainian territory.
The Latvian side has always supplied equipment fully equipped — in other words, equipment straight out of the box that can be used here and now," said Biletskyi.
Overall, the Third Army Corps has already received 41 units of equipment from the Latvian government.
Reference
CVR(T) is a family of British light tracked armored vehicles, developed in the 1960s-1970s for reconnaissance and infantry support operations. The series includes variants such as Scimitar, Spartan, and Sultan, which are currently being modernized by BAE Systems entities, including Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land.
As previously reported, in March of this year, Latvia began transferring CVR(T) combat vehicles to Ukraine. Deliveries are ongoing to strengthen battalion-level units.
At the beginning of November 2025, it was also reported that Ukraine received 21 Patria 6×6 armored personnel carriers from Latvia. The transfer took place at the Ādaži military base near Riga.
The deliveries are carried out under an intergovernmental cooperation program between Finland, Latvia, Sweden, and Germany, under which Latvia signed a general agreement in 2021 to procure more than 200 Patria 6×6 armored vehicles. In the summer of 2024, the country completed the design of a shared command-and-control platform and additionally ordered 56 specialized vehicles of the same type.
As a reminder, Raimonds Melnis joined Latvia's new government, appointed on May 28. He arrived in Kyiv on June 12.
During the visit, the minister held talks with Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. The parties agreed to deepen cooperation in the field of drone technologies.
The Latvian official also met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
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18 of June 2026
