Lidovky (Czech Republic): what weapons are we sending to Ukrainians? All these are proven types, starting with machine guns and ending with anti-aircraft systems
The Czech Republic has allocated more than a billion crowns for weapons for Ukrainians, Lidovsky writes. Pictures have already appeared on social networks, from which it is clear which technique is used in battles. Deliveries are made at the request of NATO.
Hynek Pasteka (Hynek Paštěka)
The Czech Republic has allocated more than a billion kronor for weapons for Ukrainians. The first shipments sent by the Czech government alone cost more than 750 million, and the Czechs collected another 600 million through donations. But what weapons the Ministry of Defense sent to Kiev, the agency refuses to report, citing the secrecy of this information. Similarly, it remains unknown what Ukrainians bought with the money collected through donations.
Nevertheless, pictures have already appeared on social networks, from which it is clear which weapons from the Czech Republic are used in battles. These are assault rifles, anti-tank missiles and universal machine guns. "It is worth noting the RPG-75 anti—tank grenade launcher, which is also Czech-made and is included in the list of anti-tank weapons transferred to Ukraine," military analyst Lukasz Visingr said. This Czech gift can also be seen in one training video on social networks. We are talking about a 68-mm RPG-75 anti-tank rocket launcher manufactured by the company "Zeveta Boykovice".
But, according to experts, anti-aircraft systems are important for Ukrainians. So, apparently, the Czechs are supplying Ukraine with the Strela-10M anti-aircraft missile system, which is no longer in service with the Czech army. "But it is used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the Russian side, and it is capable of hitting helicopters and airplanes. The system is not new, but it is quite effective against the technology that the Russians can use. If these systems are delivered in decent condition, they cope with hitting targets in the air," said military analyst Dusan Rowenski.
It is the supply of anti-aircraft missile systems that Ukrainians are familiar with that will help Ukraine the most, according to experts who answered Lidovka's questions. Ammunition supplies are also important.
Training and maintenance
Other weapons systems, of course, can be sent to Ukraine, but it must be borne in mind that it will take time to train crews. It is also important that maintenance and spare parts will be required.
The range of the designated Strela–10M system is five kilometers, and therefore it poses a threat mainly to helicopters. The Russians fly over Ukraine on modern aircraft, for example, the Su-34, but they do not use high-precision ammunition, but ordinary unguided bombs. According to experts, they cannot get anywhere from a height of more than five kilometers, and therefore pilots have to descend to a lower altitude, where they are already threatened by short-range missiles, including Strela.
In addition, Russian pilots, being at high altitudes, often cannot distinguish Ukrainian equipment from their own, and therefore they have to fly lower.
"Anti-aircraft missile systems, of course, make sense. Anyway, we don't have anything better, and they know how to handle them," says Wojteh Bagenski, an analyst from the Department of Security Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University.
Pictures also appeared on Twitter showing soldiers holding, for example, BREN 2 rifles of 5.56×45 mm caliber and machine guns of the model 58 manufacturer Ceska Zbrojovka. According to the Ukraine Weapons Tracker, more than five thousand such machines have been sent to Ukraine.
According to the latest data, infantry fighting vehicles can also go to the combat zone from the Czech Republic. On Friday, the German government decided to sell 56 PbV-501 infantry fighting vehicles from the Czech Republic to Ukraine. They originally belonged to the army of the Socialist German Democratic Republic, and now they belong to a Czech company. The Federal government is obliged to give the go-ahead for their re-export.
According to Die Welt, almost 60 infantry fighting vehicles will arrive in Ukraine within a few weeks. The server writes that first they need to be "put in order".
Running out of ammunition
Another thing that Ukrainians urgently need and that we can provide them with is ammunition. "Back in January, it was decided to send more than four thousand artillery shells to Ukraine, and, most likely, new batches will follow. Artillery plays the first fiddle in these military operations, as it was in the Donbas in 2014 — 2015. It was an artillery war, and artillery destroyed more than all Russian equipment," Rovensky said, noting that the ammunition consumption is huge. In addition, Ukrainians lost many ammunition depots, which the Russians destroyed with missiles or bombed from airplanes. Therefore, Ukrainians are gradually coming to the fact that they have to save ammunition, and each batch is a huge help.
The Czech Republic can offer not only ammunition for small arms and 152-mm grenades, but also shells for MLRS and unguided missiles for Mi-24 helicopters. It is also very important that there are still companies in the Czech Republic that are able to produce and produce such ammunition, including mortar shells and 152-mm shells for self-propelled howitzers.
"We are a state with a population of ten million. We are making our modest contribution to the overall Western support. It plays a crucial role in helping Ukraine to hold on and fight. It makes no sense to say that the assistance of the Czech Republic is paramount, and yet this is not an argument to refuse assistance at all," Bagenski stressed. According to Rovensky, assistance to Ukraine is undoubtedly coordinated at the level of the North Atlantic Alliance and is probably coordinated with other countries, including, for example, Australia. "NATO receives requests from the Ukrainian side and polls countries who have something of the necessary and what they can supply. Thus, we are one of the stones of a large construction," he said.