Finland to allocate €30 million for shells for Ukraine

20 March, 2024 Ukrainian artilleryman as part of the 2S22 Bohdana crew carries a projectile, October 2023 The Government of Finland will provide EUR30 million to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine as part of a Czech initiative. Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen announced this on X social media (Twitter).

However, he did not specify when these funds would be allocated. In his post, the Minister noted that he had discussed with the Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces the ways to improve support for European defense and Ukraine. This regarded the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for the Ukrainian Defense Forces from third countries.

155mm artillery rounds.

Photo credits: Brian E. Christiansen/Flickr

"In particular, we discussed the Czech initiative on ammunition. Finland will allocate EUR30 million for this initiative," Hakkanen said.

In February, Czech President Petr Pavel announced the possibility of purchasing 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine. According to the Czech President, the country's representatives managed to locate about 500,000 155-mm artillery shells and 300,000 122-mm shells abroad. At the same time, Pavel did not name the countries that agreed to sell the ammunition.

Subsequently, the Czech Republic announced that it planned to expand the initiative after the purchase of the first 800,000 shells would be funded. To date, a number of countries have committed to finance the purchase of artillery shells. They include Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Lithuania, France, and Norway, as well as Canada, Sweden, and Portugal.

155mm artillery shells.

Photo from open sources

The Wall Street Journal has learned that the Czech Republic had located suppliers from whom it could purchase an additional 700,000 shells for Ukraine, but it all depended on the availability of funds.

Czech officials do not comment on the value of the deals under which artillery shells are purchased for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, or where the ammunition comes from.