As of: March 28, 2024, 12:24 p.m
By: Philipp Bräuner
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Press
Split
The Ukrainian army is increasingly coming under pressure at the front and help from the West is a long time coming. The Czech Republic is stepping into the breach single-handedly.
Prague – At one point, it looked to many as if Ukraine was running out of support. Above all, the shrinking ammunition stocks of the defenders against Russia are causing a headache for Kiev. An initiative by the Czech Republic should at least alleviate these concerns.
The Czech Republic wants to make up for Ukraine's ammunition shortage
We are talking about 800,000 grenades that Prague is sending to the Ukrainian armed forces, as Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky explained in an interview with
Bloomberg
. Czech President Petr Pavel had already made such an announcement during the security conference in Munich. “But we can organize more than the original number mentioned,” he added. Up to 1.5 million are possible.
The Czech ammunition initiative comes at just the right time for Ukraine at a time when it is coming under increasing military pressure due to an offensive on the front against Russia. And this despite the fact that it appears to be inflicting heavy losses on the Russian armed forces.
Rare commodity: The Ukrainian armed forces are lacking ammunition. An initiative from the Czech Republic is now intended to remedy the situation. © Efrem Lukatsky/dpa
Czech ammunition deals keep support for Ukraine high
But while there is fighting in the East, there is fighting in the West. A US aid package worth billions is still stuck in Congress. There is persistent disagreement in Europe on defense issues. Finally, the EU is not keeping its promise of one million artillery shells by the end of March, having only delivered half so far.
Against this background, the origin of the ammunition reserves brought by the Czechs gives rise to plenty of speculation. The officials commissioned by the Czech government keep where they “found” the weapons a top secret. One of those involved only revealed
to the Czech weekly newspaper
Respect
that they came from states that either remained neutral in the Ukraine war or did not want to openly turn against Russia.
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Similar to the origin of the ammunition, its financing has so far been largely clarified. According to reports, a total of 18 countries welcomed the project, with the exception of Canada exclusively from Europe. However, it is not yet completely clear who will ultimately provide how much financial support. After all, Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) recently spoke of wanting to contribute money for 180,000 artillery shells. How much exactly he left open. (
pkb
)