First Batch of Artillery Shells Under Czech Initiative Delivered

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala posted on his X/Twitter page Tuesday, June 25 that the first batch of ammunition purchased as part of Prague’s initiative had already been delivered to Ukraine.

He did not specify what type of ammunition or what quantity had been delivered but said, “The first batch of ammunition on our initiative arrived in Ukraine some time ago. We are doing what it takes.”

Czech President Petr Pavel said at the Munich Security Conference in February, that his country had sourced around 500,000 155mm and 300,000 122mm rounds of artillery ammunition from outside Europe that could be purchased on behalf of Ukraine outside the bloc. In April, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that 20 countries had pledged sufficient funds to buy the first 500,000 rounds under the fundraising drive.

Although the sources for the ammunition have not been revealed, The New Voice of Ukraine news site cited an unnamed Ukrainian military representative who suggested the ammunition, worth around $2 billion, was being purchased from 

South Korea, South Africa, and Turkey. It also suggested that sufficient funds had been raised to almost double the original targeted quantity.

Speaking at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank, in April, Fiala suggested that this would not be a one-time exercise saying, “I want to highlight that this initiative is not a one-time project. Our goal is to create a long-term system of ammunition supplies for heavy weapons. This will directly help to change the situation on the [Ukrainian] front line.”

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National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Tomas Pojar said at the end of May that Ukraine would receive the first batch of 155mm artillery ammunition “in the next few days.”

Fiala said separately that the initiative would be able to provide the Ukrainian Armed Forces with between 50,000 and 100,000 large-caliber artillery rounds every month.

The arrival of the ammunition may have been inadvertently confirmed by the pro-Kremlin milblogger “Sladkov” who complained in a Telegram post that the situation at the front has changed dramatically. “If three days ago there were 10 Russian shots fired by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, now for every three Russian shots there were twenty from the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” he said.