Explainer-Why is Germany not sending Ukraine heavy weapons?

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz makes a statement after talks with European leaders and U.S. President Joe Biden, in Berlin, Germany, April 19, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/Pool

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing growing criticism at home and abroad for his government's failure to deliver heavy weapons to Ukraine to help it fend off Russian attacks, even as other Western allies step up shipments.

Scholz says Germany's own military's stocks are too depleted to send any heavy battlefield weapons like tanks and howitzers while those the German industry has said it could supply could not easily be put into use.