The Czech Republic will buy ammunition for Ukraine at the expense of revenues from frozen Russian assets.
This was reported by the Minister of Defense of the country Yana Chernokhova.
"Part of the income from the frozen Russian assets in the EU will go to the supply of ammunition for Ukraine, which will be purchased by the Czech Republic. This is what the European Union decided," she wrote.
Thanks to this, the Czech Republic will be able to purchase hundreds of thousands more large-caliber projectiles for the needs of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
Yana Chernokhova emphasized that such a decision of the European Union showed the confidence of the allies in the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition.
Czech initiative
In February 2024, the Czech Republic informed that it had found a way to get 800 000 shells for Ukraine, but they had to be bought. The country called on its allies to invest money in this initiative — it was supported by Canada, Finland, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania and other countries.
Already in March, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic reported that there may be more projectiles within the scope of the initiative — from 1.5 million. The Czech Republic contracted the first 180 000 ammunition in mid-April.
At the end of June, it became known that the Czech Republic had already supplied Ukraine with 50 000 shells as part of its initiative.
Frozen Russian assets
The value of frozen Russian sovereign assets in the EU is almost €211 billion. In total, the European Union, the G7 countries and Australia have frozen approximately €260 billion in securities and cash.
In June, the "Big Seven" countries agreed to provide Ukraine with a $50 billion loan by the end of the year, which will be repaid with profits from Russian assets.
Ukraine has already received several tranches of aid from the EU proceeds from frozen Russian assets.