A video appeared on social media showing that the Ukrainian military received projectiles manufactured in Romania by the Romarm company in 2022, in the context of which the Bucharest authorities refuse to specify which ammunition and weapons they sent to Ukraine.

• UPDATE 3:55 p.m Economy Minister Florin Marian Spataru told Digi24 that “some checks” had begun and that there was currently no information that the ammunition in question had been shipped from Romania. “This image appeared online. We have started some checks and under no circumstances do we have any information that these ammunitions were delivered from Romania. This symbol has nothing to do with Romania,” said the Minister of Economy.

Administrators of the Ukraine Weapons Tracker account note that the projectile is loaded into the 2C1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer with a 122-millimeter turret, a combat vehicle that was adopted by the Armed Forces of the USSR in 1972.

The 2S1 Gvozdika howitzer was exported or manufactured under license to all countries of the former Soviet bloc, including Romania, which kept in reserve the 6 2S1s it had had since 2005, as well as another 42 OAPR Model 89s (Romanian Self-Propelled Howitzer, Model 89). ), a local variant of the weapon, which combined a Soviet-style turret with the chassis used on the MLI-84 (1984 model of the BMP).

According to the Romarm website, the 122mm projectiles it produces have a warhead of 3.5 kilograms and a total weight of 21.76 kilograms. Depending on the weapon used, they can hit targets at a maximum distance of 15,290 meters and an initial velocity of 690 meters/second.

What Ukraine told about the weapons received from Romania

At a joint press conference in Bucharest on April 22, together with Bohdan Auresku, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba evaded an unequivocal answer as to whether Romania sent ammunition and weapons to Kyiv, stating that Ukraine distributed a list of its military needs to all NATO and EU member states. and each country decides.”

“If each country decides to give us just one item, we’ll get what we want. I have raised this issue (in the meetings with Chuke and Aurescu-nr) and I appreciate the constructive approach. But we leave it to the countries to decide what to do,” Dmytro Kuleba said.

“In some cases, we see that countries can do something, they can supply certain weapons, but they don’t do it because they don’t want to have bad relations with Russia. We increase diplomatic and then public pressure. This is not the case of Romania. We do not accept hypocrisy. Fortunately, this is not the case in Romania. She was friendly and open,” he said.

Instead, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Bohdan Aurescu said that he does not think that “it is good to talk too much publicly about these things.”

“I can assure you that Romania, as a member of the EU and NATO, is an extremely responsible and responsible state in terms of fulfilling its international obligations, in terms of supporting Ukraine in all spheres, respectively, in relation to our partners. . As you know, the EU supports these efforts, NATO and its member states support these efforts,” said the head of Romanian diplomacy.

“But as the president and prime minister said, things are in constant evolution, and I don’t think it’s worth talking too much publicly about these things,” Aurescu emphasized.

President Iohannis refused to clarify what military aid Romania is sending to Ukraine

Bohdan Aurescu’s comments came after President Klaus Iohannis said at a press conference on April 12 that it was not good to make “long public statements” on the matter.

“Obviously, NATO also sends military aid to Ukraine, which is very good, by the way. However, I don’t think it’s very good to make long public statements about what this or that country is doing specifically in this area,” the president answered when asked what weapons Romania sends to Ukraine.

He reiterated his position during another press conference in early July, saying it was “wise not to give vital information to the adversary.”

“I can tell you what I have said on other occasions. We are at war, not in the situation we talk about quietly over coffee. The war is right next to us, and it is wise not to give vital information to the enemy. We publicly declare that we are helping Ukraine with everything we can, and we are doing that,” he said.

When asked about the discrepancies between the communications of Romania and neighboring countries, which publicly stated what they sent to Ukraine, Klaus Iohannis replied that:

“This is our approach, because we are direct neighbors of Ukraine and we believe that it is better for us and for Ukraine to help them.”

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