Czechs supplied Ukraine with half a million artillery shells this year

(Patria) - Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala says about 500,000 artillery shells have been supplied to Ukraine this year as part of a Czech-led global effort to support Kyiv in its fight against Russia.

Speaking at a joint press conference yesterday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Fiala pledged to increase training for Ukrainian pilots to operate F-16 fighter jets and L-39, a training jet of Czech manufacture.

He did not mention whether the Czech government is considering offering soldiers to serve in Ukraine as part of the Coalition of the Willing effort led by France and Germany.

That effort aims to organize a multinational group of troops to be deployed to Ukraine as peacekeepers, once there is a cessation of Russia’s all-out invasion, which is now in its fourth year.

Zelenskyy is on a two-day visit to one of Kyiv’s strongest European allies. The visit comes as Kyiv and Moscow, as well as most European capitals, prepare to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

Ukraine has moved its Victory Day commemoration to May 8, aligning with the date Western allies observe the event.



As it did under the Soviet Union, Moscow celebrates Victory Day on May 9, as the Nazi surrender in 1945 occurred overnight in Moscow.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin called for a three-day ceasefire in his invasion of Ukraine starting May 8. In response, Zelenskyy called for a longer – 30-day ceasefire.

During earlier meetings with President Petr Pavel, Zelenskyy said Putin could end the war with “one decision,” but that he “has shown no will” to do so.

Renewed Western efforts to resolve the conflict, largely spurred by U.S. President Donald Trump, have begun to falter, as Russia continues to press its battlefield advantage in Ukraine.

Despite an earlier preliminary agreement to limit attacks on energy infrastructure, Ukraine and Russia have continued to target oil pipelines, power plants, transmission lines, and other key sites.

The Czech government has led global efforts to secure and send artillery shells to Ukraine. In February, Pavel said that more than 1.6 million shells had been supplied so far as part of that program.

Ukraine faces a critical shortage of ammunition in its fight to repel Russian forces that launched an all-out invasion in February 2022.