Ukraine "Almost Out of Ammunition"... Appeals to the West for Weapon Support

Different Weapon Specifications Between Western Countries

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] It has been revealed that the Ukrainian military is at a disadvantage in artillery battles with the Russian military due to a shortage of ammunition and artillery.

On the 10th (local time), Vadym Skibitsky, Deputy Head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, said in an interview with the British Guardian, "The artillery battle is in full swing now, but we are losing."

He stated, "We have only one artillery piece to counter 10 to 15 Russian artillery pieces," and "The weapons provided by the West amount to only 10% of the quantity of Russian weapons." He added that the Ukrainian military uses about 5,000 to 6,000 shells per day and said, "Everything depends on Western weapons support."

Deputy Head Skibitsky said, "We have almost used up our existing shells and are now using NATO standard 155mm ammunition," adding, "Europe provides smaller caliber ammunition, but as Europe is also running low on shells, the amount of support is decreasing."

The difference in weapon standards used by Ukraine and NATO member countries is also a problem. Most Ukrainian military equipment uses former Soviet standards and different caliber ammunition from NATO, so to fire NATO ammunition, Western artillery is needed.

Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's Minister of Defense, stated that although the NATO standard shells provided by the West exceed the total stockpile of shells Ukraine had before the war, there are too few artillery pieces to fire them.

However, even if Western artillery is provided, it inevitably takes time for the Ukrainian military to become familiar with the new weapon systems, so the U.S. Department of Defense has shortened the weapons training period for the Ukrainian military compared to that for U.S. troops.

Ukraine plans to submit a list of required weapons and defense equipment at the NATO meeting to be held in Brussels, Belgium, on the 15th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.