The Estonian Ministry of Defense on April 20 announced that, at their first cabinet meeting, members of the new Estonia cabinet supported Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur’s proposal to send Ukraine the artillery ammunition it so urgently needs, as part of the European Union agreement to send Ukraine one million rounds of artillery ammunition.
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The forthcoming ammunition supply from Estonia to Ukraine will contain mainly 155mm artillery rounds (Picture source: Estonian MoD)
“The Estonian initiative to send a million rounds to Ukraine was approved by the EU institutions with unprecedented speed and now Ukraine needs quick decisions from its European Allies to make sure these rounds reach Ukraine. A big step was taken and fast, so now the next step is to pack up ammunition and send it to Ukraine, which is what we are doing with this next aid package,” said Minister of Defence Pevkur.
Estonia’s newest aid package includes mainly 155mm ammunition. In addition, the cabinet supported the Minister of Defence’s proposal to donate night vision equipment and light weaponry ammunition to Ukraine.
The artillery rounds are Estonia’s contribution towards the EU agreement to jointly send Ukraine one million rounds of artillery ammunition. “Tomorrow in Ramstein I will also meet the Minister of Defence of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov to discuss how and with what Estonia can further help Ukraine,” said Pevkur.
In addition to air defence, artillery ammunition is currently Ukraine’s most critical need in its fight against the aggressor. Ukraine fires 60.000-210.000 artillery rounds per month, while the Russian Federation uses up to 600,000-1.8 million rounds per month in its attempt to destroy a country and its people. To mitigate this critical gap in capabilities, at the European Council in February 2023, Estonia proposed to EU member states to jointly send Ukraine at least one million 155 mm artillery rounds. On March 20, the Foreign Affairs Council joint session of the EU foreign affairs and defence ministers reached an agreement to deliver one million rounds of artillery ammunition (incl. 155 mm) to Ukraine within 12 months, i.e. by 20 March 2024.
To date, Estonia has provided Ukraine with military aid in the sum of around 400 million euros, which is more than 1% of the Estonian GDP. Donations have included missiles for the Javelin anti-tank missile system, howitzers, anti-tank mines, anti-tank grenade launchers, vehicles, communication equipment, medical supplies, personal protective equipment (helmets, etc.) and dry food packages. In cooperation with Germany, Estonia has donated two field hospitals and medical supplies at the value of 15 million euros. Estonia has donated a third field hospital to Ukraine in cooperation with the Netherlands and Norway, which supported the project with 7.8 million euros.
Defense News April 2023
