Supply of shells to Ukraine to increase sharply in June

The Armed Forces of Ukraine will receive 50,000-100,000 large-calibre artillery shells a month under the Czech initiative.

Czechia’s Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský confirmed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will receive the first batch of shells under the Czech initiative as early as June.

"The first shipments will arrive in Ukraine very soon, we expect them in June," Lipavský said.

Tomáš Kopečný, Czechia’s Governmental Commissioner for the Reconstruction of Ukraine responsible for the Czech initiative to supply shells to Ukraine, spoke about the same timeline. Kopečný also said he expects that the supply of shells to Ukraine will increase. "The first major increase in supplies will take place in June; tens of thousands [of shells will be supplied], between 50,000 and 100,000 shells a month," he said.

The shells in question are large-calibre artillery shells.

In February, Czech President Petr Pavel said that Czechia had found a way to acquire 800,000 (122mm and 155mm) shells for Ukraine outside the European Union and NATO structures.

On 28 May, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that Ukraine will receive 500,000 shells by the end of 2024 under the Czech initiative. Meanwhile, Tomáš Kopečný, Czechia’s Governmental Commissioner for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, said that the final number of shells that will be supplied under the initiative might change, rising up to 1.5 million shells or more.

The debate about whether Ukraine should be allowed to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia is ongoing, with more countries increasingly favouring lifting the ban that prevents Ukraine from doing so.