President Pavel: 800,000 shells discovered by Czechia could aid Ukraine

The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, said that Prague found hundreds of thousands of artillery ammunition abroad, which it could deliver to Ukraine.

The Czech President, Petr Pavel, stated this at the Munich Security Conference, according to iRozhlas.

At a panel discussion with the participation of the leaders of 5 EU member states, Pavel stated that the Czech Republic has succeeded in finding military equipment around the world; in particular, it has found the source of thousands of projectiles for the Ukrainian army.

According to Pavel, the Czech Republic could transfer the projectiles in a matter of weeks if it gets funding from the USA, Germany, Sweden, and others.

"We found half a million 155-millimeter projectiles and another 300,000 122-millimeter projectiles, which we will be able to transport [o Ukraine — ed.]," the president noted.

Pavel added that these shells can reach Ukraine in a matter of weeks if the Czech Republic can secure financing with partners in the USA, Germany, Sweden, and other countries.

For reference:

On May 3, 2023, the Council of the EU approved a decision on aid for Ukraine in the amount of 1 billion euros for the joint procurement of ammunition and missiles.

The procurement plan provided for allocating 1 billion euros for compensation of supplies to member states, another 1 billion for joint procurement of ammunition, and increased production capacity in the EU.

On November 14, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius admitted that the European Union would not be able to provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells by March 2024.

However, on January 11, the European Commission announced that the European Union would be able to produce one million rounds of ammunition for Ukraine by the end of the winter of 2024.

Subsequently, it became known that during the past months, the European Union has significantly increased the production of ammunition and will increase this capacity to 1 million ammunition per year in March of this year and to 2 million in 2025.

Also, the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is currently one of the leading suppliers of military equipment for Ukraine, which promises to supply Ukraine's armed forces with many ammunition and armored vehicles in 2024-2025.