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A video recording was released on social networks shows that Ukrainian soldiers received shells manufactured in Romania by Romarm in 2022. The authorities in Bucharest have refused so far to tell what ammunition and weaponry they sent to Ukraine.
The administrators of the Ukraine Weapons Tracker account note that the shell is loaded into a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer with a 122-millimeter turret, a combat vehicle that entered service with the Soviet armed forces in 1972.
#Ukraine: An uncommon look inside a Ukrainian 2S1 Gvozdika 122mm self-propelled howitzer- showing that the vehicle is loaded with HE-FRAG ammunition made by ??Romarm in 2022. pic.twitter.com/b7y7a1DJoI
— ?? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) August 7, 2022
The 2S1 Gvozdika howitzer was exported or produced under license in all former Soviet bloc states, including Romania, which put into reserve the 6 2S1 models it had since 2005, as well as another 42 OAPR model 89 (Romanian Self-Propelled Howitzer , model 89), an indigenous variant of the weapon that combined the turret of the Soviet model with the chassis used by the MLI-84 (Model 1984 Infantry Fighting Vehicle).
According to the Romarm website, the 122 millimeter shells it produces have a warhead of 3.5 kilograms and a total weight of 21.76 kilograms. Depending on the weapon using them, they can hit targets up to a maximum distance of 15,290 meters and a muzzle velocity of 690 meters/second.
Romanian authorities have been constantly refusing to specify what ammunition had sent to Ukraine.
“Obviously, military aid is also sent to Ukraine by NATO, a very good thing, by the way. I don’t think, however, that it is very good to make long public statements about what one country or another is doing specifically in this field“, President Klaus Iohannis replied, after being asked what weapons Romania is sending to Ukraine.
“We are at war, not in a situation that we talk about, quietly, over coffee. The war is going on right next to us and it is wise not to give vital information to the adversary. We publicly declare that we help Ukraine with everything we can, and that’s what we’re doing,” he said on another occasion.
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