NATO member says all weapons transferred to Kiev, Swiss equipment appears in Ukraine

Czech President Petr Pavel said that his country has done everything to support Ukraine in its ongoing conflict with Russia, but Prague’s ability to produce more ammunition to send to Kiev has been limited by a lack of workforce.

A T-72M tank was delivered to Ukraine by the Czech Republic. Photo: OSINTdefender/ Twitter

“We not only send what we can from our own reserves, but also buy additional components from abroad to send to Ukraine. Although we are still able to produce some of the air defense equipment and ammunition that Kiev needs, our capabilities are limited by the lack of labor resources,” said Mr. Pavel.

According to the President of the Czech Republic, a possible solution to this situation is for the country's defense factories to recruit more skilled workers from Ukraine.

Statistics recently released by Reuters news agency show that since February 2022, the Prague government has sent the Ukrainian army 89 tanks, 226 armored vehicles, 38 howitzers, 33 multiple rocket launchers, 6 air defense systems, 4 helicopters and countless ammunition. The total value of the above weapons and equipment is about 1.8 billion USD.

Swiss equipment appears in Ukraine

The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said it is urgently investigating how partner countries have let weapons produced by the country slip into Ukraine, after images of an Eagle 1 armored vehicle in the Donbass region went viral on social media in recent days.

Specifically, the photo taken on March 18 shows Ukrainian soldiers using an Eagle 1 armored vehicle, manufactured by the Swiss defense group MOWAG, to move in the city of Avdiivka in Donetsk province.

According to Swissinfo, Switzerland exported 36 Eagle 1 armored vehicles to Denmark in the early 1990s. In 2013, the Copenhagen government, with permission from Bern to re-export weapons, transferred 27 Eagle 1s to the German army. Both Germany and Denmark agreed at that time that they would not illegally transfer any military equipment to another country without approval from Switzerland.

An Eagle 1 armored vehicle appeared in Chasiv Yar, Ukraine in February. Photo: Mil.in.ua

According to the site, this is not the first time the Eagle 1 armored vehicle has been seen in Ukraine. Last month, a photo published by the military site Mil.in.ua showed the vehicle appearing in Chasiv Yar, just 17 km west of the Bakhmut front line.

Tuan Tran