Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the Czech Republic has actively participated in international aid and supplied military aid to Ukraine. Up to now, information about the supplies was classified and could not be specified due to security reasons. However, the Ministry repeatedly committed to making the information public as soon as the security risk diminishes. In this respect, the Government charged the Minister of Defence Jana Černochová to inform the public about details of military aid to Ukraine in 2022.
At the press conference, the Minister and the Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Karel Řehka assured the public that the Czech Armed Forces donate only equipment whose decommissioning and sending to Ukraine by no means lowers the security and defence posture of the Czech Republic.
The Czech Republic has provided Ukraine with materiel worth approximately CZK 4.9 billion. Czech military aid has included air assets, tanks, fighting vehicles, and self-propelled gun howitzers (see attachment for complete list of donated military materiel). This year, the Government is planning to send to Ukraine military materiel valued at CZK 2 billion. In twelve months, Ukraine received a total of 89 tanks, 226 infantry fighting vehicles and other armoured vehicles, and 38 howitzers from the Czech Government and private entities. As a backfill, the Czech Republic obtained 15 Leopard 2A4 tanks from Germany and 8 helicopters, and USD 306 million from the United States. Apart from that, Czech aid is also compensated by the EU via the European Peace Facility. The first payment of EUR 6.5 million was made in January.
“Thanks to the total volume of supplies from the Czech Armed Forces, government funding, a public fund-raising campaign organized by the Ministry, and commercial supplies, the Czech Republic ranks among major suppliers of military equipment to Ukraine, in absolute numbers as well as in relation to country size,” the Minister Černochová stated.
Czech arms manufacturers also send weapons to Ukraine. The estimated value of awarded Czech military materiel trade licenses has reached CZK 68 billion and realized exports are presently valued at CZK 30 billion.
“It is the fastness and extent of help in the form of military materiel supplies that saves the lifes of Ukrainian soldiers fighting also for us. The actions of the West have been united and effective and they must continue to be so. Not only will our collective aid to Ukraine continue but we will make it faster and more extensive, whether it be delivery of munition, spare parts, or equipment repairs,” Minister Černochová added.
The Czech Armed Forces is also planning to train 4,000 Ukrainian service members, which accounts for an expenditure of CZK 1 billion. Close to 800 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were trained in the Czech territory by the end of 2022.
“Until the end of last year, we completed the training of more than 600 members of the mechanized battalion and 50 specialists in three fields – military medicine, CBRN defence, and combat engineering,” said the Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Karel Řehka. The Czech Armed Forces is one of the few which can train up to the battalion level. According to General Řehka, this capacity is highly valued among Ukrainians and mentioned at international forums. The training also benefits Czech service members because they gain experience from the current war.
Besides the training of field units, the Ministry is also considering training junior officers. Support and expertise necessary for such training might be provided by the University of Defence in Brno.
The Ministry also coordinates crowd-funding and other types of help for Ukraine. Donors have sent more than CZK 1.5 billion. Furthermore, the Czech Republic might have been one of the first countries where people raised money to buy tanks or multiple rocket launchers.
The MoD works as an intermediary for further aid to Ukraine as well. For example, the Ministry achieved to arrange an agreement consisting of the United States and the Netherlands covering the refurbishment of 90 Czech T-72 tanks and the delivery of 100 pieces of MR-2 anti-aircraft and anti-drone systems, known by the name of Viktor, for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Czech Republic also negotiated with the Netherlands for possible cooperation in investigating and documenting war crimes in Ukraine. Pending the agreement and endorsement by the Czech Parliament, we will send members of the Military Police to monitor the situation. It will be similar to the course of action in the states of former Yugoslavia.
The aid by the Czech Ministry of Defence went beyond the field of military materiel. The Ministry provided accommodation for more than a thousand refugees in its facilities and dozens of Ukrainian soldiers received medical treatment in Czech military hospitals.
Attachment:
- Air assets – 4 pcs
- Tanks – 38 pcs
- Infantry fighting vehicles – 55 pcs
- CBRN reconnaissance vehicles – 5 pcs
- Vehicles – 47 pcs
- Self-propelled howitzers – 13 pcs
- Artillery shells – 27.518 pcs
- Rocket launchers – 12 pcs
- Rockets for rocket launchers – 4,900 pcs
- Rocket propelled grenades – 8,022 pcs
- Mortars – 128 pcs
- Mortar shells – 17,400 pcs
- Man-portable air defence systems – 291 pcs
- Small arms, short-barrelled – 30,025 pcs
- Small arms, long-barrelled – 11,233 pcs
- Small arms ammunition – 4,263,000 pcs
- Medical military materiel
- CBRN defence materiel
- Individual equipment
- POL, spares, transport, and other materiel