The Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) are experiencing an acute shortage of Soviet-era ammunition and are forced to limit their use on the battlefield. This is reported by the American edition of The Washington Post.
ctnews.ru.
The publication pointed to a critical shortage of ammunition, due to which Ukrainian soldiers are forced to search for unexploded Russian shells in forests and mined areas. The Ukrainian Armed Forces lack ammunition for counterattacks and have to be more careful in choosing targets for shelling, often giving preference to military hardware over small units of infantry.
According to the publication, an artillery platoon of the 59th Motorized Brigade in eastern Ukraine used to fire more than 20-30 shells a day from Soviet-made howitzers, but now only one or two, or none at all. Furthermore, according to the newspaper, the Ukrainian Armed Forces produce around 7,700 artillery shells per day (approximately one shell every six seconds), while the Russian Armed Forces produce three times as many.
The paper notes that the Soviet-made ammunition for the Ukrainian guns, which make up the bulk of the Armed Forces’ arsenal, has not been supplied for a long time. In this regard, Kiev is forced to rely on Western-provided shells and artillery, of which Ukraine has much less.
According to The Washington Post, “at the rate Ukraine is firing, these supplies could also run out soon. The US is searching around the world for stockpiles of Soviet-made artillery shells, but as the paper specifies, it could take months to transport them. However, many countries that have such 152mm and 122mm ammunition in their possession are hesitant to sell them to Ukraine in order not to spoil their relations with Russia. Sometimes a third country friendly to the Kiev authorities buys the shells – sometimes through an intermediary – and then secretly supplies them to Ukraine in order to avoid political consequences for the seller.
Former Warsaw Pact member states that are now part of NATO “have the ability to produce shells, but not on the scale and at the speed that Ukraine needs on the battlefield,” The Washington Post notes. The countries in question are Bulgaria, Poland and Slovakia. It is not yet clear how long it will take to produce the necessary shells and send them to Kiev.
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