Gaps due to new procedure
The federal government cannot precisely quantify arms deliveries
5/3/2022 4:52 am
According to the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Germany has been sending weapons worth around 192 million euros to Ukraine since the beginning of the war. However, the sum does not correspond to the exact costs, since not all exports are recorded.
In the first eight weeks of the war, the federal government delivered weapons and other armaments worth at least 191.9 million euros to Ukraine. This emerges from a response from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection to a request from Left Party MP Sevim Dagdelen. From the first day of the war, February 24, to April 19, the government then gave the go-ahead for the delivery of war weapons worth 120.5 million euros and other armaments worth 71.4 million euros.
For comparison: since the beginning of the war, the United States has promised or has already delivered arms and ammunition worth more than 3.7 billion US dollars (around 3.5 billion euros) to Ukraine. According to the government, little Estonia has so far provided military aid worth more than 220 million euros to Ukraine. Among the weapons supplied were US-made anti-tank mines and Javelin anti-tank missiles. Estonia has 1.3 million inhabitants, Germany 83 million.
However, the Federal Ministry of Economics pointed out that its figures no longer corresponded to the total scope of export licenses because not all values were recorded due to process simplifications. Dagdelen called it “a mockery of Parliament” that the federal government does not provide full information about the value of arms exports. She also called it “extremely dangerous” that Germany was becoming “actually a war party” by supplying arms to Ukraine on an ever-increasing scale.
100,000 hand grenades were exported
Two days after the Russian attack on Ukraine, the German government decided to deliver weapons to the war zone – breaking a taboo. Initially, the federal government announced which weapons it was supplying, but not for a long time. Members of the Bundestag can only obtain information about this from the secret protection agency.
According to information from Ukrainian government circles, a good 2,500 anti-aircraft missiles, 900 rocket-propelled grenades with 3,000 rounds of ammunition, 100 machine guns and 15 anti-tank grenades with 50 rockets had arrived in Ukraine by April 21. There are also 100,000 hand grenades, 2000 mines, around 5300 explosive charges and more than 16 million rounds of ammunition of various calibers for handguns from assault rifles to heavy machine guns.
Last week, the federal government approved the export of heavy weapons directly from Germany for the first time: 50 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks. The delivery of Panzerhaubitzen 2000 from Bundeswehr stocks is also under discussion. These are heavy artillery pieces that can fire 40 kilometers. The delivery of western-style main battle tanks such as the Leopard from Germany to the Ukraine is not yet planned.