Despite the statements of the Polish Ministry of Defense, Ukraine did not sign a contract for the production of MSBS Grot assault rifles.

This information is reported by the Polish ONET website.

In March 2023, the then-Polish Defense Minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, announced Ukraine’s order of MSBS Grot rifles in his interview with one of the local radios.

However, the minister then did not inform the volume of the order by the Ukrainian side of small arms or the cost of the contract.

The story gained an unexpected continuation when, on January 15, 2024, ONET journalists sent a letter to the Ministry of National Defense of Poland, asking about the status of the announced March contract, the number of rifles ordered, and their cost.

In response to the letter, during a telephone conversation, a representative of the Ministry of Defense directed journalists with this issue to Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ), the Ukrainian analogue of Ukroboronprom.

On January 18, 2024 PGZ communications manager, Jacek Matushak, said that “neither Fabryka Broni as a manufacturer, nor Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa entered into agreements with the Ukrainian side to sell MSBS Grot rifles.”

“However, I confirm that the Armed Forces of Ukraine use 10,000 MSBS Grot carbines in the A1 and A2 versions provided by Poland as part of the assistance that has been constantly provided since the beginning of the war in February 2022,” the PGZ representative stated.

In September 2022, the president of Fabryka Broni “Łucznik”, Wojciech Arndt, announced the free transfer of 10,000 rifles to Ukraine.

If the information provided by PGZ representatives proves to be accurate, it can be assumed that since that time, the Ukrainian side has not received any units of these small arms.

BREN instead of Grot?

In October 2023, the Czech Ministry of Defense announced the transfer to Ukraine of a license for the production of assault rifles CZ BREN 2.

The deployment of the production of rifles under the Sich brand and the line of production of small-caliber ammunition was called the “flagship” project of Ukrainian-Czech cooperation.

The Czech BREN is a competitor to the Grot carbine. It, like the Polish rifle, is actively used by the Ukrainian military and a number of special forces in the Russian-Ukrainian war.