Czech Republic Has Sent Millions of Shells to Ukraine
Czech-made ammunition, 2024. Photo: X/ @Danny_elMayor
August 26, 2024 Hour: 8:18 am
Since Feb. 2022, it has sent 2 million large-caliber shells and 22 million medium-caliber ammunition units.
On Monday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, a conservative, acknowledged that his government supplies Ukraine with “tens of thousands” of shells each month, including 155 mm howitzer rounds, as part of an international munitions initiative that his country has led since the beginning of the year.
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These shipments are crucial for maintaining Ukrainian positions in a context where the Czech government does not foresee significant changes on the battlefield, despite recent Ukrainian maneuvers in Russian territory.
“In fact, we must admit that we cannot expect a decisive turning point in the conflict at this moment,” Fiala stated during the annual meeting with Czech ambassadors in Prague.
Since the start of Russia’s special military operation in February 2022, the Czech Republic has sent 2 million large-caliber shells and 22 million medium-caliber ammunition units to Ukraine.
Thanks to the Czech initiative, 50,000 large-caliber shells have been sent, and it is expected that 100,000 artillery munitions will be delivered by the end of August.
Prague has set a goal of sending 500,000 shells to Ukraine before the end of the year as part of this operation, in which 15 European Union (EU) countries are participating to purchase surplus munitions from third countries for Ukraine.
So far, the Czechs have contributed 35 million euros, according to the prime minister. This initiative will be bolstered by the EU’s decision to allocate part of the 1.4 billion euros in frozen Russian Central Bank assets for the purchase of munitions.
With these funds, several hundred thousand additional large-caliber munitions can be acquired, although the exact figure has not yet been specified by Prague.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE