The Czech Republic is prepared to deliver up to 800,000 artillery shells to Ukraine from abroad; delivery could start in a “matter of weeks” and include 500,000 155mm and 300,000 120mm rounds, according to President Petr Pavel. The potential supplier has not been revealed, as this is one of the procurement conditions.
Prague pitched a similar proposal in an informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels on January 31. It pushed to procure 450,000 artillery rounds from non-European Union nations, with the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell specifically mentioning South Korea as one potential supplier. This goes against France’s stance of focusing on procuring a million promised rounds to Ukraine from local producers.
A total of 524,000 shells are expected to reach Ukraine by the March deadline, according to reports. The EU’s blueprint to boost ammunition supplies includes reimbursing countries with billions of euros through the European Peace Facility for sending shells from existing stockpiles.
Russia is reportedly out-shelling Ukraine at a ratio of five-to-one, forcing the Ukrainians to deploy FPV drones with lower ranges to bridge the gap.
