- NATO this week announced plans to increase its stockpile of artillery shells.
- This comes as the Ukrainian military faces shortages on the battlefield and is outnumbered by the Russian military.
- A senior Pentagon official stressed that Kiev lacks necessary supplies.
Russia’s war with Ukraine has been going on for nearly two years, and Russia appears to have the upper hand in the key battle, the ammunition battle.
The situation is becoming increasingly dire for Ukrainian soldiers, who are lacking ammunition and outnumbered by Russian forces on the battlefield. While this was not the case a few months ago, Kiev now faces uncertainty regarding future security assistance from Western partners.
Celeste Wallander, the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, said this week that the Pentagon is aware of a shared concern that Ukraine’s military leadership “doesn’t have the stockpiles of munitions and munitions that they need” for their soldiers. Stated.
One important type of ammunition is artillery shells. According to reports on Monday, last summer the Ukrainian side was firing up to 7,000 shells per day, while the Russian side was firing 5,000. report New York Times article citing US and Western analysts.
But now those numbers appear to have dramatically reversed. Ukraine fires just 2,000 shells per day, while Russia approaches 10,000. Moscow’s economic boom can be explained by increased domestic production and the influx of North Korean weapons.
Ultimately, Ukraine’s “ammunition problem is rooted in increased defense production,” Wallander said. told reporters Tuesday. “And we’ve been working with our allies and partners to scale up ammunition production. So we’re going to respond to that.”
A large-scale effort is underway. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Tuesday announced A new contract worth $1.2 billion has been signed to buy around 220,000 rounds of 155mm artillery shells, the ammunition that played a key role in the war between Ukraine and Russia.
“This shows that NATO’s proven joint procurement structure is paying off,” Stoltenberg told reporters about the contract. “Russia’s war in Ukraine has become a battle for ammunition, and it is important that the Allies replenish their stockpiles as we continue to support Ukraine.”
Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said it was unclear whether the NATO contract would allow the alliance to send more munitions to Ukraine or replenish its own stockpiles. , both of which are important in the long term.
“Western security assistance remains essential for Ukraine because any reduction or sudden collapse of Western aid would very likely undermine Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.” , analysts wrote in Battlefield Tuesday. evaluation.
It added that aid cuts “could lead to the Russian military occupying significant territory in Ukraine, bringing Russia’s forward bases closer to the borders of NATO member states.”
“Replenishing NATO’s stockpiles is also an important effort. ISW also continues to assess that NATO rearmament is necessary to deter, and if necessary defeat, a future Russian attack on NATO’s eastern flank. analysts said.
Efforts to increase ammunition production are not limited to NATO.european union countries pushing The aim is to deliver much-needed shells to Kiev, while Ukrainian officials have also expressed a desire to increase production at home and abroad.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy: “We need to speed up all aspects of logistics” said He said this in an evening address to the nation earlier this month after meeting with military and political leaders and analyzing available shells.
“We also discussed the launch of new production lines for weapons and ammunition in Ukraine in cooperation with our companies and partners,” he said.
The biggest unknown at this point is the future of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine. Additional military funding remains withheld by Congress, despite repeated calls for urgency by the Biden administration.
Pentagon officials argued that without more funding, the United States would not be able to arm Kiev at the same level and pace as it has done since the beginning of the war. The impact of aid depletion is incredibly high-stakes, U.S. and Ukrainian officials warn. Some say that without continued support, Ukraine will lose.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Tuesday: “Due to continuing funding shortfalls and the impact on our own military readiness, we are forced to suspend the withdrawal of additional items from our inventory. “I don’t get it,” he said.
These limitations “make it impossible to meet Ukraine’s most urgent battlefield needs, including artillery shells, anti-tank weapons, air defense interceptors, etc.,” he added.
