Some ammunition from the Czech Republic and the United States exploded prematurely

A small number of the artillery shells transferred from the United States and under the Czech initiative exploded prematurely, causing injuries to Ukrainian soldiers and damage to equipment.

Here's What We Know

In August this year, Ukraine informed the Czech government of the shell explosions. During the combat use of ammunition, "numerous explosions occurred at a distance of 20 to 60 metres from the muzzle". According to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, the explosion injured soldiers and damaged artillery systems.

The cause of the malfunction is believed to be M515 and M51A5 detonators manufactured during World War II. In the delivery of almost 35,000 artillery shells, the error was 0.05%. Of the 10,000 shells fired, five exploded prematurely.

As a reminder, in early 2024, the Russian Federation announced that it had found a way to supply Ukraine with 800,000 shells, but needed funding to buy them back. The initiative was supported by Canada, Finland, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, and other countries.

As early as March, the Czech Republic announced that there could be more shells - up to 1.5 million units. They contracted the first 180,000 in mid-April this year.

Source: Handelsblatt