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Ukraine’s defense minister has cautioned that a significant portion of weapons from the West are facing delays, posing a threat to both lives and territories. This delay is being blamed by soldiers for the shortage of ammunition that led to Ukraine withdrawing from the crucial town of Avdiivka.
During a speech in the city of Kiev, Rustem Umerov discussed the second anniversary of Russia’s complete invasion. He stated that in the “calculations of war,” there are severe repercussions when promised military aid is not actually provided.
According to him, it’s never happened before that a country has been tasked with fighting an enemy with such a vast difference in air superiority and military spending. This comes only a week after Kyiv had to retreat its troops from Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine.
According to soldiers on the field who spoke to The Independent, they attribute the retreat to the severe limitation of ammunition and absence of air defense against a fierce attack by Russia, which involved the use of numerous bombs in the last attempt to capture the town.
According to Mr Umerov, half of the commitments are not met within the given timeframe. This results in losing people and territories, which he stated solemnly when asked by The Independent.
He stated that there has never been a time in human history where an army was expected to fight and win a war without having control of the air.
According to him, the Ukrainian military has successfully recaptured land in the northern part of the country and regained authority over a crucial passage in the Black Sea using advanced air and sea drones developed within the country.
However, the minister acknowledged that the current circumstances are challenging, as Russia maintains a larger presence in the sky and has a yearly defense budget of $150 billion (£118 billion).
“I won’t go into details but we have a plan. We [will] achieve everything possible and impossible. But without timely supply [of weapons] it makes it hard,” he said.
Soldiers on the ground told The Independent they blamed the withdrawal from Avdiivka on the crippling rationing of ammunition
The European Union had pledged to supply Ukraine with one million artillery shells by March 2024, but in January, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell acknowledged that production issues would result in only half of the promised amount being delivered by the deadline.
As of now, The Independent has only received 300,000 notifications.
The US Congress is currently facing internal disputes, which have resulted in the blocking of a $61 billion military aid package.
In the case of Ukraine, this has resulted in their soldiers facing the difficult choice of limiting their ammunition supply. According to reports, Russia has been firing five times more artillery at Ukraine on a daily basis.
At the conference, the defense minister and Kyiv’s minister for strategic industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin, discussed Ukraine’s initiatives to increase domestic weapon production in order to address the shortage.
According to the speaker, Ukraine’s weapons production increased three times in the previous year and is expected to grow six times by 2024. Currently, there are around 500 companies operating in the country’s defense industry.
The city of Kyiv is actively seeking methods to enhance its protection against the ongoing invasion from Moscow, which has been ongoing for two years. This includes efforts to increase domestic production and innovation in the field of weapons.
According to Ukraine’s digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov, 90% of the drones utilized in combat against Russian forces were manufactured in Ukraine.
Source: independent.co.uk
