Contacts since the Cold War: the Czech Republic purchases ammunition for Ukraine from Russian allies - WSJ

In conditions where the United States has blocked assistance in the supply of weapons, the production of ammunition in the West is slowly expanding, and Ukraine's reserves are decreasing, Prague resorts to procurement from Russia's partner countries. About it writes the American edition of The Wall Street Journal.

The publication notes that Czech officials stated that their efforts began before the start of a full -scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago and largely "bypassed the bulky bureaucratic structures of NATO and the European Union. " "While the Great Western powers, such as the United States, are discussing the danger of reference new weapons to Ukraine, fearing to provoke Moscow, the Czech Republic has started to supply the main combat tanks, missile installations and large artillery tools.

The missiles that have sank the flagship ship of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia "Moscow" was staged by the Czech Republic, "the material reads. According to journalists, the Czech Republic has already received about 800,000 artillery shells from different suppliers around the world and found another 700,000 units that can be ordered in the presence of additional funding. The first tranche of 300,000 shells is already provided, with the largest contribution made by Germany, says WSJ.

The shells include 300,000 Soviet standard shells and about 500,000 Western production shells that will be set by the end of the year. According to the Czech government, other shells will be supplied as the funds are received. In total, according to Czech officials, about € 3 billion will be delivered about 1. 5 million shells - only a small part of a $ 60 billion assistance package, which is currently under consideration in the US Congress, will be delivered.

According to the newspaper, the Czech Republic has reached the "inheritance" from the socialist bloc, a large weapons and good ties with many countries of the "global south" with large reserves of Soviet production weapons. Although the Czech Republic does not disclose the sources of ammunition, the publication claims that allies of Russia may include suppliers.

Agreements stipulate that supply is made through the Czech Republic or third countries to maintain confidentiality and avoid Moscow's negative reaction. "Privacy is a key point: we talk and speak to everyone, regardless of their loyalty or political position-with some exceptions, such as North Korea," said Tomasza Zones, Prime Minister Petro Fili, a national security advisor.