Ukraine faces a critical ammunition shortage and scrambles for ways to conserve the supply of artillery shells until Western allies can produce or procure more, according to the Washington Post.
Ammunition has become a precious resource in the artillery war with Russia. Conserving shells and rearming faster could give an advantage on the battlefield. Ukrainian volunteers and soldiers have to resort to creative conservation tactics. To keep up with Russia and still be able to conserve ammunition, the Ukrainian artillery has to carefully select targets and prioritize military equipment over small groups of infantry.
According to the Washington Post, Ukrainian soldiers recycle unexploded ordinances in underground workshops across eastern Ukraine to create alternative munitions. In some cases, Ukrainian crews bring unexploded ordinances originally fired by the Russians to secret labs in eastern Ukraine. The elements of unexploded ordinances are carefully stripped away to create a new munition.
The Ukrainians use 3D printers to fashion small, inexpensive munitions that can be dropped from drones. Bullets are deconstructed to create alternative munitions. The ball bearings from Claymore mines are removed and used to create different anti-personnel or antitank mines, the Washington Post reported. Alas, homemade munitions cannot help repel a Russian assault. Such munitions can only replace artillery shells to bomb an immobile tank or infantry fighting vehicle.
Even amid a critical shortage of ammunition, Ukraine’s Armed Forces still fire around 7,700 shells per day or roughly one every six seconds, an unnamed Ukrainian military official told the Washington Post. Russia, which may also be running low on shells, is firing three times as much of that amount.
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152-mm artillery shells for Ukraine’s Soviet-era howitzers comprise most of Ukraine’s arsenal and have long been in short supply. The critical shortage of Soviet-era artillery rounds forced Ukraine’s Armed Forces to rely heavily on the artillery provided by Western allies. As a result, Ukraine’s artillery started using 155-mm caliber shells more.
Currently, Ukraine has more 155-mm shells but far fewer guns that can fire them and significantly more Soviet-era howitzers that run low on 152-mm shells. At the current pace Ukraine is firing, the stocks of 155-mm shells could soon run out too, while Ukrain’es Western allies struggle to ramp up the ammunition production to help Ukraine repel Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“Current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned in February 2023.
The countries with stocks of Soviet-era 152-mm and 122-mm artillery rounds are largely former Soviet republics, which are hesitant to sell ammunition to Ukraine because of their close ties with Russia, the Washington Post claimed. Some African and Middle Eastern countries, which have received weapons and ammunition from Russia over the years, also have stocks of Soviet-era shells that Ukraine urgently needs to defend itself.
However, it is unknown whether any of the African or Asian countries have delivered ammunition to Ukraine. According to the Washington Post, a few former Warsaw Pact countries in eastern Europe can manufacture the 152-mm and 122-mm shells but not at the scale and speed Ukraine needs on the battlefield.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry spox Yuriy Sak, Bulgaria, Poland, and Slovakia have already agreed to produce the shells Ukrainian Soviet-era guns lack. It is not clear yet how long it will take for the needed shells to be produced and reach the battlefield in Ukraine.
“The main issue of concern is sustainability,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. “Former Warsaw Pact countries dismantled their production lines of Soviet-caliber ammunition since they became members of NATO. We badly need this Soviet-caliber ammunition, so the question is how to restore production lines.”
The United States has searched worldwide to help Ukraine overcome the shortage of Soviet-era artillery rounds, according to the Washington Post. On 4 March 2023, as part of a larger military aid package, the US Pentagon announced it would provide an unspecified number of artillery shells, including Soviet-era 122-mm rounds that the US does not produce.
Ukraine has to hold back ammunition for a planned counteroffensive. Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield told the Washington Post what they have now is enough to repel daily Russian assaults but not enough to counterattack.
Russia is still firing more than Ukraine every day. However, Ukrainian officials said they have noticed their enemy become increasingly conservative, a sign Russia may also be facing a shortage, the Washington Post reported.
Related:
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