Ukrainian defenders will soon receive artillery shells that were purchased as part of the Czech initiative, announces the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala.
He mentioned that fifteen EU and NATO countries have raised over 1.6 billion euros for ammunition for Ukraine.
"The first tens of thousands of 155-millimeter ammunitions will be delivered in June. Ukraine can expect the first shipment within the next days," Fiala noted.
The Prime Minister also clarified that since the start of the full-scale war, Ukraine has received 918 units of heavy equipment from allies, nearly 21 million medium-caliber munitions, and 1.7 million large-caliber munitions and missiles.
Czech initiative
It's worth noting that Czech President Petr Pavel proposed purchasing artillery shells for Ukraine from third countries after the EU failed to fulfill its promise to deliver a million shells to Ukrainian defenders within a year.
Following this, Ukraine's allies began allocating funds for purchasing shells. Initially, Kyiv expected the ammunition to start arriving in April, but this did not happen.
Overall, Ukrainian defenders could receive up to 1.5 million shells under the Czech initiative, as stated by Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský in March.