Private company Tanks-a- lot, based in the United Kingdom, seized the opportunity to purchase old Soviet howitzers that were once part of the arsenal of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. According to the website bneIntelliNews, which cites reports from Austrian and Latvian sources, these weapons are now being shipped to Ukraine via the Baltic Sea.
It is noted that photos have appeared on the Internet showing 122 mm "Carnation" howitzers. and "Acacia" 152 mm howitzers, their desert camouflage clearly betraying their origins. bneIntelliNews notes that while there is some uncertainty about the details of the transit, in particular how the weapons ended up in Latvia, and their exact origin remains unclear, one thing is abundantly clear: their final destination is Ukraine.
The publication notes that these weapons played an outstanding role during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
After the fall of Saddam's regime, the weapons fell into the hands of the US and British coalition forces. It was assumed that the weapons would be neutralized and destroyed, but no effective solution was found. Instead, they were returned to Europe.
"Now, in a convoluted rebirth story, these howitzers "Carnation" and "Acacia" were handed over to Ukraine to continue the fight against their creator," writes bneIntelliNews.
As BulgarianMilitary points out, in the 1970s and 1980s, Iraq amassed a significant collection of these howitzers as part of its military expansion project. According to some sources, the number of such equipment may be several hundred.
BulgarianMilitary writes that while it is unclear whether Iraq has ammunition for Saddam Hussein's stockpile of Soviet howitzers, the possibility cannot be completely ruled out. If Ukraine needs such munitions, it will likely seek the help of its allies.
However, as the post notes, most of the 122mm ammunition for the "Carnation" are located in Syria and Vietnam, but the problem is that neither of these countries has shown any willingness to supply weapons to Ukraine.
At 152-mm ammunition "Acacia" a similar story is observed: most units are in Russia and Ukraine, followed by Belarus.
On the battlefield, Ukraine uses a mix of NATO 155mm and 105mm rounds, as well as Soviet-designed 152mm and 122mm rounds.
At the same time, as the WSJ writes, the shortage of ammunition in the Ukrainian armed forces is so acute that the search for remnants of Russian shells in swamps and minefields is becoming an important source of ammunition for some units.