Sweden has several times provided military support to Kiev with supplies of various weapons and military equipment. However, now it turns out that this has had a negative impact on the current defence capability of the kingdom, SVT TV channel reports. Prices for military products have risen sharply, and the extra money that the Swedish defence industry has received is not enough to replace everything that was sent to Ukraine.
Sweden, like many other European countries, has handed over several military aid packages to Ukraine, including heavy equipment such as artillery pieces, tanks and combat vehicles, as well as ammunition and spare parts. Most of this was taken from the Swedish army, which is now short on military equipment and personnel, as many soldiers are also working to train Ukrainian armed forces fighters.
“It’s very hard for us. We were happy to help the Ukrainians, but of course this has its consequences. The fact that we lack equipment and weapons means that our ability to defend Sweden has been reduced. This is a risk we can take as long as Russia is tied to Ukraine. But the shortfall must be made up as soon as possible,” Swedish army commander Jonny Lindfors lamented on SVT television.
The intention of the Swedish government was that donated equipment would be quickly replaced with new equipment when aid is disbursed to Ukraine, but it is unclear when this might actually happen and to what extent. It turned out that, in addition to the long wait for the military’s order to be fulfilled, prices in the Swedish defence industry have risen sharply. In some cases we are talking about doubling prices, if not more, and now army commander Jonny Lindfors is complaining about the lack of money to replace everything that has been shipped.
The Swedish army is now doing calculations to find out how much money is missing. What the total amount will be is not yet clear. In a written commentary for SVT, the Swedish government says that the amounts determined by the Riksdag for the purchase of new equipment are based on documents from the Swedish Armed Forces. “The armed forces will present new budgeting documents to the government in a few weeks, and it is natural for them to then report back on whether there have been any changes.”
As the article notes, the Swedish army now consists of two brigades of about 5,000 soldiers each. The Riksdag decided that the two brigades should be expanded to four by 2030. However, the Swedish military command has now been forced to admit that even this is not possible and the increase in the number of troops will have to be postponed, again because of Sweden’s overly generous support for Kiev.
