The Czech Republic delivered the first batch of purchased shells to Ukraine

25 June, 2024 155mm artillery rounds. Photo credits: Brian E. Christiansen/Flickr

The first batch of artillery ammunition purchased under the Czech initiative arrived in Ukraine. Petr Fiala, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, stated this on Tuesday, June 25. Artillery ammunition is purchased with cash contributions from individual allied countries that have joined the initiative.

"The first batch of ammunition arrived in Ukraine on our initiative some time ago. We are doing everything we can," Fiala wrote on social media X. It is reported that these artillery shells are purchased from suppliers outside of NATO and the European Union.

155mm projectiles of the Ukrainian military.

Photo credits: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

In total, 20 countries have joined the Czech initiative to supply ammunition to Ukraine. As of mid-June, five of them have already sent money, which is used to conclude agreements with ammunition suppliers from different countries, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told Radio Svoboda. At the end of May, the Czech Foreign Ministry shared that the initiative would be able to provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with 50,000 to 100,000 large-caliber artillery shells per month.

Tomas Kopecny, the Government Commissioner for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, who is also responsible for the initiative to supply the shells, made the same prediction.

Czech initiative

In February 2024, Czech President Petr Pavel announced at the Munich Security Conference that his country had found an opportunity to purchase about 800,000 rounds of ammunition for Ukraine.

155mm artillery shells. Photo credits: telegraph.co.uk

The country's representatives managed to locate about 500,000 155mm artillery shells and 300,000 122mm shells abroad. Subsequently, the Czech Republic reported that they had located an additional 200,000 artillery shells but did not provide details on the caliber or other information.

In April, contracts were signed to purchase the first 180,000 rounds of ammunition.