SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Czechs have sent $288 mn in Ukraine military aid since invasion
Prague, July 3 (AFP) Jul 03, 2024
Prague said Wednesday it has sent military equipment worth $288 million to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, publishing its first update on Ukraine aid since November.

The Czech Republic, an EU and NATO member of 10.9 million people, was one of the first arms donors to the war-ravaged country, said Defence Minister Jana Cernochova.

The ministry discloses the data sporadically for security reasons, and the cabinet always approves arms supplies to Ukraine in a classified regime.

As of May 31, 2024, Prague has sent eight aircraft, 62 tanks, 131 armoured vehicles, 26 chemical survey vehicles and 16 complete air defence vehicles to Ukraine, the defence ministry said on its website.

It has also provided 47 cars, 13 howitzers, 12 rocket launchers, 4,900 rockets, 645 anti-tank missiles and 8,022 rocket-propelled grenades, among other things.

NATO wants to spend at least 40 billion euros ($43 billion) a year on military aid to Ukraine, its outgoing chief Jens Stoltenberg said in May.

Cernochova said on Monday that Czech supplies were drying up but the country still had material to send to Ukraine.

"Since we are getting Western military material replacing our Eastern technologies, we still have some resources," Cernochova said.

"So we can still send something over and we will," she added.

Prague has recently signed deals to buy up to 92 German-made Leopard tanks to replace its obsolete Soviet-era fleet.

It is also planning to buy 24 US-made F-35 fighter jets, 48 Israeli air-to-air missiles and 210 CV 90 combat vehicles from Sweden as it seeks to raise this year's defence spending to two percent of gross domestic product required by NATO.

Prague also leads an international initiative to buy artillery shells for Ukraine outside Europe. It sent the first 50,000 shells in June.

The initiative involving 18 countries -- including Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal for instance -- has raised some $1.8 billion to buy 500,000 shells this year.

The drive makes up in part for the EU's failure to meet its promise to supply one million shells to Ukraine by the end of March this year, which faltered due to limited production capacities.

Cernochova said next week's NATO summit in Washington would be an opportunity to negotiate additional funding for the drive.

"We still know about a number of sources of ammunition we can buy and send to Ukraine," she added.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
BlackSky plans new satellite network for large-scale AI-driven Earth observation
Fish biofluorescence evolved independently over 100 times in evolutionary history
Meteosat-12 begins prime service delivering enhanced weather data for Europe

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Human brain reveals hidden action cues AI still fails to grasp
Key factors shaping soil carbon storage in boreal forests revealed
Light travels through entire human head in breakthrough for optical brain imaging

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Iran calls IAEA a 'partner' in Israel's 'war of aggression'
Iran's Khamenei 'can no longer be allowed to exist': Israel defence minister
Israel-Iran war: Trump weighs direct U.S. involvement

24/7 News Coverage
New Zealand halts aid to Cook Islands over China deals
Warning signs on climate flashing bright red: top scientists
'We have to try everything': Vanuatu envoy taking climate fight to ICJ



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.