Minister: Estonia sending large-caliber artillery shells to Ukraine

Estonia is continuing to provide large-caliber artillery shells, and other munitions, weaponry and equipment, to Ukraine, Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform) says.
The formal United Nations Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA) definition of large-caliber artillery refers to guns, howitzers, artillery pieces and similar, which primarily engage in indirect fire and have a caliber of 75mm or more.
Speaking to ETV news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK), Minister Pevkur said that Estonia has been contributing by donating shells to Ukraine already, "but we are also looking at the other options that we have at our disposal."
"This first of all includes smaller calibers. It may also related to aid that is directly needed on the front. We will be looking at, for instance, if we can donated gas masks to Ukraine," the minister went on.
Other nations are also ready to contribute, the minister said.
"Denmark said that they are ready to provide substantial finance. For this reason, for example, they have proposed that Estonia immediately purchases new missiles instead, which Denmark will finance, and in order to be able to send materiel to Ukraine right away," Pevkur added.
Other countries are using either of these two models, AK reported – ie. donating munitions from their own stockpiles, or financing the procurement of munitions expressly for the purpose of sending these to Ukraine.
While Germany is a major donor, the munitions outputs in some other EU countries are set to rise too – for instance to 300,000-400,000 shells per year, in the Czech Republic and also in Spain, AK reported.
While the EU will have missed its initial target deadline of providing one million shells to Ukraine by March this year, this volume will be met and perhaps exceeded somewhat by the end of this year, Minister Pevkur said earlier this week.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Andrew Whyte, Aleksander Krjukov