Czech initiative criticized for costs, quality, and delays – But keeps ammo flowing to Ukraine
By Laurens Groeneveld (editor until September 2025), Zuzana Šotová, Kristina Vejnbender, Anna Myroniuk, Valeriya Egoshina, Iliès Hagoug | 7 May, 2025
The Czech ammunition initiative for Ukraine emerged in early 2024 as a response to the monthslong suspension of US military aid and Brussels’ failure to keep up with the promised pace of shell deliveries, affecting Kyiv’s ability to fend off Russia’s full-scale invasion.
As many as 16 European countries, led by the Czech Republic, decided to act. They united in an ad hoc coalition to buy artillery rounds for Ukraine. Their aim was considerable: to supply as many as 800,000 large-caliber shells to boost the Ukrainian war effort. A year into this pledge, Czech officials behind the initiative claim to have supplied twice this amount. Government sources in Ukraine, however, say the numbers are more modest, although they refuse to provide a precise figure, citing security concerns.
Despite claims that the initiative has been a success, it faces fierce criticism from the Czech opposition and Ukrainian NGOs over alleged profiteering, political favoritism, poor quality, and supply delays.
An international consortium of journalists from the Czech Republic (Investigace.cz), the Netherlands (The Investigative Desk and Follow The Money), and Ukraine (Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service RFE/RL) have checked these claims and found that, while specific allegations lack evidence, some criticism is justified.
Read the full investigation published on Follow the Money.
Interview with Laurens Groeneveld
Laurens Groeneveld is the project leader of this series
In our previous investigation from late 2023 to mid-2024, we examined the true production capacity of European ammunition producers. During this project, the Czech initiative was launched. This initiative came up regularly in interviews with sources we did for our previous project. We had already gathered quite a bit of information about this initiative when we completed our previous investigation, which made it a logical follow-up topic. Even more so because all sorts of things appeared vague around this initiative from the beginning.
Why is this story important?
This story is important because the European continent has entered a veritable race to rearm as quickly as possible. Governments in Europe have in some cases made a 180-degree turn when it comes to spending money on defense. Rebuilding our armed forces is important, but a scenario is now looming where the arms industry is given carte blanche. This story includes CSG, one of Europe’s fastest-growing defense companies. It is a family business, with one owner and therefore no shareholders. They play a crucial role in one of the largest European arms initiatives for Ukraine, but it is not known how they operate. This story is important because, first of all, if the West wants to help Ukraine, it is important that its military aid be as efficient and good as possible. Second, ambiguity or scandals surrounding the spending of money for Ukraine can lead to a loss of political support in European countries.
When did you start this story?
This project started at the end of 2024 and ran until May 2025.
How did the (international) collaboration come about?
The members of the team who worked together in this project have known each other for more than three years and have already completed several defense industry investigations together since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Is there a moment during the research that has stayed with you?
Writing about the defense industry is exciting, as there are a lot of interests. Sources don’t want to reveal much information and everyone is afraid to share sensitive information. In this story, there was an additional problem. Russia appears to be following Western reporting on support to Ukraine very closely. In doing so, we faced a dilemma. On the one hand you want to know: where exactly does the ammunition given to Ukraine through the initiative come from and how does it then travel to Ukraine, but at the same time you also don’t want to unwittingly help Russia. Indeed, it has already happened that Western reporting on a military aid convoy has caused the bombing of that convoy. Thanks to the information from that reporting, the Russians knew the route . For that reason, sources chose to mention only regions to indicate where the munitions might come from. We chose to adopt this in our piece and not pursue it further. Also because this information was not essential to telling the story.
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