Nearly half of Ukraine’s artillery shells could be at risk as Czechia reconsiders key supply program

2025-12-23 12:04 3 min

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced the country's security council will debate the future of a Western-financed ammunition scheme for Ukraine on 7 January, Reuters reports. The Prague-led initiative is delivering 1.8 million artillery rounds to Ukrainian forces this year. Babiš questioned whether the program operated "without corruption" while stopping short of opposing it outright.

Babiš took office as prime minister after his populist ANO party's October election victory. His leadership has raised concerns that Czechia could halt support for Ukraine, including the Prague-led ammunition initiative that procures artillery shells from third countries using funding from European allies. Czechia's President Petr Pavel, NATO allies, and Ukraine have all praised the initiative, while Babiš's pro-Russian coalition allies oppose the shell supply scheme. Babiš raises transparency concerns that may threaten the shell supplies

The Czech-led scheme coordinates foreign donors including Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands with Czech defense officials and arms traders. These partners purchase ammunition worldwide and deliver it to Ukraine to offset Russia's battlefield advantage in artillery firepower. Donors have contributed around $4.5 billion to the program, while Czechia's national contribution amounts to tens of millions of euros.

Reuters says Babiš, who took office last week, has pledged to cut Czech financial aid to Ukraine, criticizing the scheme’s alleged lack of transparency. However, he has not taken a clear position on its future since his party won the election in October.

"In principle, the ammunition initiative has certainly been a good thing, the question is whether it has occurred without corruption," Babiš told a news conference after a government meeting on 22 December.

He said he would propose a definitive position at the 7 January meeting but did not elaborate.

A senior NATO military official expressed cautious optimism last week that the initiative would continue, Reuters reported. The official said the program accounted for 43% of all artillery ammunition supplied to Kyiv this year.