The Ukrainian armed forces do not have enough shells, writes the Washington Post in its report. The newspaper calls the lack of ammunition in some units critical.
An artillery platoon from the 59th Motorized Rifle Brigade in eastern Ukraine fired more than 20-30 rounds a day from a Soviet howitzer. Now they usually get one or two, or none at all, says.
Even with a shortage, Ukraine fires about 7,700 shells a day, or about one every six seconds. This was said by a Ukrainian military official on condition of anonymity. Russia shoots, according to some estimates, three times more.
Given the current situation, Ukrainian fighters are now more selective in choosing their targets. Most often they fire at vehicles rather than small groups of infantry. Accuracy is key because misses mean wasted projectiles. And in sweatshops, soldiers use 3D printers and recycle unexploded ordnance to create alternative munitions.
Soviet artillery shells for Ukrainian guns in Ukraine have long been in short supply. The Ukrainian armed forces have to rely on Western-style artillery, which uses 155 mm caliber shells. Ukraine has more, but for a much smaller number of firearms.
The United States searches the world for stockpiles of Soviet-made artillery shells. But not all countries dare to provide them, and not all do so openly. Therefore, often an artillery piece on the battlefield can have shells produced in several countries, which affects accuracy.
As a result, due to the lack of shells, Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers sometimes roam the mined fields and forests in search of abandoned and unexploded ordnance, the newspaper writes.
Western countries are struggling to increase the production of artillery shells. In February, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that “Ukraine’s current rate of ammunition expenditure is several times our current rate of production.”
WP: Armed forces critically short of ammunition
