Babiš didn’t scrap Czechia’s shell pipeline to Ukraine—he just stopped paying for it
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš ran for office vowing to scrap Ukraine’s biggest ammunition pipeline. In power, he kept it running and stopped paying for it, Ambassador Luboš Veselý told NV on 12 May.
The Czech-led program has delivered 4.4 million large-caliber shells since 2024. It provides more than half of all rounds reaching Ukrainian forces, Czech President Petr Pavel said in February.
Czechia itself contributed $145 million (€124 million) in 2024, a contribution Prague has now ended.
Before it launched, Russia held a tenfold artillery advantage. The ratio has since shifted to 2-to-1, then-Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský announced in 2025.
The program aims to buy €5 billion ($5.9 billion) of shells in 2026, with only €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) raised by February. Czechia itself contributed $145 million (€124 million) in 2024, a contribution Prague has now ended.
Veselý took up his post in Kyiv in September under the previous Fiala government—weeks before Babiš won.
How the initiative survived
After winning October’s elections, Babiš’s government took the program to the Czech security council in January for a debate on its future. The outcome: the initiative survives, but Prague will no longer share the cost, Veselý said.
Babiš refused to transfer Czech-made L-159 combat aircraft in January.
Babiš has separately killed Czech military aid he could block on his own. He refused to transfer Czech-made L-159 combat aircraft in January, overruling President Pavel and the chief of the general staff.
Brussels could fill the gap
Veselý was cautiously hopeful that Hungary’s change of government could unblock the European Peace Facility—the EU’s instrument for funding military aid to Ukraine. He deferred specifics to “our Hungarian colleagues.”
The €3.6 billion ($4.2 billion) shortfall now falls on the 20 participating countries funding the initiative, including Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, and Norway.
Czech citizens step up
While Prague pulls back, Czech donors are giving more. The “Dárek pro Putina” drive—“A Gift for Putin”—had raised €41 million ($48 million) from 360,000 donors by September 2025.
“Czechs have always been pragmatic people, even if we don’t look it.”
Veselý said the figure has now passed €50 million ($59 million) for weapons alone, and continues to rise. Past donations include generators for three winters and a helicopter for Ukraine’s military intelligence.
“Czechs have always been pragmatic people, even if we don’t look it,” Veselý said.
The program delivered 1.8 million artillery rounds in 2025. The €3.6 billion ($4.2 billion) shortfall this year is now everyone else’s problem.
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