03/28/2024March 28, 2024
Germany to provide Ukraine with over 10,000 artillery shells, military official says
The German (armed forces) will hand over 10,000 artillery shells from its own stocks to Ukraine in the coming days, Major General Christian Freuding told DW.
Speaking to DW on Wednesday, Freuding said the handover is the first part of a German three-stage plan for ammunition deliveries.
The Czech Republic has pushed through the purchase of up to 800,000 pieces of artillery ammunition for Ukraine.
The initiative began at the end of February. Since then, 20 EU and NATO states have joined the campaign, including Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Canada.
Freuding told DW that the Bundeswehr’s second stage of supplying Ukraine with ammunition involves also supporting the Czech initiative first with over 180,000 rounds due to be delivered “from early summer until the end of the year.”
The final stage would involve the delivery of a further 100,000 artillery shells from the fourth quarter of this year.
Germany also plans to continue training Ukrainian soldiers on its soil. Last year, 10,000 military personnel from Ukraine’s armed forces were trained at German military training grounds, and a further 3,000 to 4,000 in the first few months of 2024.
In 2024, the German Ministry of Defense is ready to offer such an opportunity to even more soldiers from Ukraine.
“The focus is always on training on the weapons systems that we provide to the Ukrainian armed forces, both tactical training, operator training and also training technicians to maintain and repair them,” says Freuding.
He added that Germany is constantly surprised by the Ukrainian soldiers’ ability to learn and the speed with which they “make friends with completely new weapon systems.”
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