Czechs have sent $288 mn in Ukraine military aid since invasion

Czechs have sent $288 mn in Ukraine military aid since invasion
by AFP Staff Writers
Prague (AFP) July 3, 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.