Prague has announced that it will use a recent EU decision to utilise a portion of the Russian assets frozen by the EU to purchase ammunition for Ukraine, as stated by the Ministry of Defence today. The EU has blocked approximately $300 billion worth of Russian sovereign assets following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. EU countries are directing the interest generated from these assets, which include bonds and other securities purchased by the Russian central bank, into an EU fund to support Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion. In July, EU governments agreed to allocate €1.5 billion in profits from the assets to procure arms and provide other assistance to Ukraine.
“Part of the income from the frozen Russian assets in the EU will go to the supply of ammunition for Ukraine, which the Czech Republic will purchase. The European Union decided on it. We can thus buy hundreds of thousands of much-needed large-caliber ammunition for Ukraine. It is another proof of the allies’ trust in the Czech Republic and our ammunition initiative. This is a unique opportunity to support Ukraine, to use resources originally belonging to Russia and to save the public finances of European countries,” said Czech Defence Minister Jana Černochová.
The ministry mentioned that some funds would be utilised to purchase artillery ammunition. However, they did not provide further details, only stating that deliveries are expected “in the coming months.”
Ukraine has received the first 50,000 ammunition shells from the Czech initiative launched earlier this year. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated in July that the ammunition drive will continue next year, with around half a million artillery shells expected to be delivered to Ukraine this year through the Czech drive. This initiative uses contributions from NATO states and allies to source ammunition outside Europe.
The Czech Republic is one of Ukraine’s most active supporters. In addition to the newly allocated funds, the Czechs had amassed approximately €1.7 billion from Western partners by May, which the government stated would be adequate to procure half a million shells.
