27 October 2022, Thursday, 13:34 539

Germany Asks Switzerland For Permission To Transfer Ammunition For Gepard Anti-Aircraft Guns To Ukraine

Редактор: Tetiana Herasimova

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht sent a letter to her Swiss colleague Viola Amherd asking her to allow Ukraine to provide ammunition for Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.

German publication Der Spiegel reports this with reference to the text of the letter.

Earlier, Germany handed over to the Ukrainian military a certain amount of Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, as well as a set of 60,000 35 mm ammunition for them.

Lambrecht said in the letter that previously Ukraine reported a lack of ammunition for the anti-aircraft installations due to their intensive use in the fight against Russian missiles and drones.

Lambrecht asks Amherd to grant a license that would allow countries with suitable ammunition to hand them over to Ukraine.

The German Minister of Defense also stressed in the letter that the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns are used mainly to protect seaports, from where Ukrainian food is exported along the grain corridor.

"In view of the global humanitarian consequences that will lead to the cessation of grain supplies, Germany and Switzerland must comply with the request to supply ammunition," Lambrecht said in the letter.

Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns are armed with twin anti-aircraft guns manufactured by Swiss companies of the Oerlikon family. They also produce ammunition for these weapons.

Due to the policy of neutrality, Switzerland still refuses to issue the necessary permits for re-export of ammunition for the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on July 25, the Armed Forces of Ukraine received the first three Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns from Germany. In total, Ukraine expects to receive 15 such installations.

Recall that back in April, German media reported that the Bundeswehr warehouses do not have a large amount of ammunition for the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns transferred to Ukraine.

Later it turned out that Brazil was ready to transfer about 300,000 units of ammunition for the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine. However, everything rests on Switzerland's ban on re-exports.

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