The Ukrainian military will be trained to maneuver so they can use fewer artillery shells as the West’s arsenals dwindle. This was reported by the newspaper on February 14 Politico.
“We are working with Ukrainian soldiers in various locations across Europe to emphasize additional training in maneuvering so that they rely not so much on artillery shelling as on troop maneuvers on the battlefield,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
It is specified that Washington’s concern about the stockpiles of weapons and ammunition is growing. At the same time, the United States intends to seriously increase the production of 155-mm artillery shells in order to continue providing them to Ukraine. Thus, the article says, the United States intends to start producing 90,000 ammunition per month by 2025, while before the start of the conflict in Donbass, the country produced only 14,000 per month.
On February 13, the American leadership refused to supply the ATACMS missile to Kyiv due to a shortage of these weapons. During the meetings at the Pentagon, it was explained to the Ukrainian side that the transfer of ATACMS would deplete the arsenals of the US Armed Forces. And this would lower Washington’s combat readiness in case of possible conflicts in the future.
Earlier, on February 12, Colonel Douglas McGregor, former adviser to the head of the Pentagon, said that Washington and its allies were running out of resources for further military assistance to Ukraine. He pointed out that Western countries, in particular, quickly depleted their stocks of NASAMS and HIMARS missiles, and they have no reserve capacity. In parallel, the Russian army was able to quickly increase production.
On February 10, the head of the British Parliament’s Defense Committee, Tobias Ellwood, said that in the event of war, the British Armed Forces would be able to hold out for five days, as the country’s military stocks were critically depleted due to supplies to Ukraine and high inflation. He noted that, in particular, London needs anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles, which, by decision of the authorities, were transferred to Kyiv as military assistance.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Kyiv against the backdrop of a Russian special operation to protect Donbass. Moscow has repeatedly condemned the supply of arms to Ukraine. So, on January 16, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that a new round of supplies to Ukraine of more advanced military equipment could “only drag out the whole story and bring more trouble to Kyiv.”
