Media: UK sets up secret task force to purchase ammunition for Ukraine

The UK Ministry of Defense has established a secret task force to purchase ammunition for Ukraine, especially Soviet-made weapons, American media reported, citing documents it obtained and people familiar with the matter, reported from Sputnik International.

The task force is mainly focused on obtaining Soviet-style ammunition through third countries and brokers, according to the report. The US has also financed such deals, the report said.

Such deals, however, became harder in recent months as suppliers began running out of stock, the newspaper said.

Last June, London reportedly struck a deal to buy 40,000 Pakistani-origin artillery shells and rockets made by the government-owned Pakistan Ordnance Factories.

Under the agreement, the UK would pay a Romanian broker to buy the weapons, which would be transferred from Pakistan to the UK, with no mention of Ukraine, according to the newspaper.

The deal was not realized because the Pakistani supplier was unable to deliver the ammunition, the report cited Marius Rosu, the head of exports at Romanian broker Romtehnica, as saying.

Rosu noted that his company does not provide weapons directly to Ukraine. However, purchasers may obtain them from Romtehnica and later send them to Ukraine.

A Czech arms seller also offered Ukraine ammunition and Soviet-made ground-attack jets built between 1984 and 1990 for about $185 million, the report also said, citing documents. Luxembourg is supplying Kyiv with arms that originate in the Czech Republic, it added.

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