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Without further US aid, Ukraine cannot defend itself permanently. The shortage of ammunition is already affecting what is happening at the front – but new deliveries are coming soon.
Kiev – Ukraine's artillery ammunition is in short supply: The EU recently failed to deliver a million rounds by March as promised – at the same time, further US military aid is stuck in Congress. But now things are apparently moving. Extensive ammunition supplies are on the way and Kiev's troops are preparing the guns.
Race against time in the fight against Putin: Ukraine expects ammunition deliveries
After the EU was only able to deliver around a third of the announced ammunition despite full promises, the Czech Republic launched an initiative in February to procure 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine. The grenades are said to come primarily from countries outside the EU. The first delivery of the Czech initiative is expected to arrive in June, according to the Reuters news agency. In the meantime, the missing EU ammunition arrived in Ukraine late, but at least Forbes reported.
It's high time: “If you need 8,000 rounds a day to defend the front line, but you only have 2,000 rounds available, you have to do less,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in a recent interview with the Washington Post. That means a gradual withdrawal, the president continued. Without support from the USA, Ukraine cannot defend its territory, the president warned. But thanks to Europe's initiative, Kiev's troops will soon have plenty of artillery ammunition again, at least for the time being – and the Ukrainian army is preparing for it.
Destroyed howitzers in the Ukrainian war: Ukraine is working feverishly and is getting new vehicles for the front
Ukrainian troops are expecting ammunition deliveries and are preparing their weapons accordingly: of a total of 190 M777 howitzers, 44 have been destroyed and 38 damaged during the Ukraine war. The weapons are now to be repaired domestically and with Ukrainian spare parts. “We have set up production of some of these parts here in Ukraine,” General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the new commander in chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said Forbes reported. “In particular, in the restoration of each unit of this howitzer, 40 percent of the parts and spare parts produced for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at domestic enterprises will be used,” Syrskyi continued.
Repairs at home are considered a milestone, as there are often long delays when sending damaged tanks or guns abroad. Good news also comes from France: Paris wants to provide Ukraine with hundreds of old but “still functional” wheeled tanks of the type VAB as well as missiles for the Samp/T anti-aircraft system as part of a new aid package, according to the French newspaper La Tribune reported on Sunday. “Hundreds” of the military vehicles are expected to be delivered this year and early next year, it said.
Turning point in the Ukraine war? Waiting for the decision of the US Congress
However, all of this seems like a side note compared to Ukraine's biggest problem: further US military aid is still being delayed. The US Congress wants to discuss further support for Kiev in April, which was recently blocked by the Republicans. Trump supporters among Republicans in particular want to stop aid to Kiev. Experts and Ukraine itself agree: Without US support, Vladimir Putin will win the war.
Despite the resistance of the “Trumpists”, the advisor to the Ukrainian president, Mikhailo Podolyak, was optimistic that the USA would continue to provide aid for economic reasons even if Donald Trump were re-elected. “The American military-industrial complex is, among other things, a major donor to America's political parties, and sales mean jobs and profits,” Podolyak said in an interview published Friday Politico.
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