The war in Ukraine is becoming a war based on artillery attacks. And Ukraine claims, that even despite massive weapons shipments by the West, that it needs more artillery weapons to hold off Russia. Ukraine is warning Western countries that its survival depends on more weapons deliveries, saying it is currently outmatched by Russia in an artillery game.
Vadym Skibitsky, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, told The Guardian in a recent interview that fighting Russia is “an artillery war now,” but cautioned that his side is losing “in terms of artillery.”
“Ukraine has one artillery piece to 10 to 15 Russian artillery pieces. Our western partners have given us about 10% of what they have,” Skibitsky said, adding that Ukraine is using thousands of rounds each day and its success hinges on more weapons deliveries from the West.
During a meeting with UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a “key priority” is to “quickly obtain heavy weapons.”
He added: “This is important in order to defeat the Russian aggressor, to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
Ukraine has previously and routinely urged Western countries to provide it with longer-range weapons to protect against Russian heavy artillery in the eastern Donbas region — the main theater of the 15-week-long conflict that has left thousands dead and millions displaced.
Russia is gradually making advances amid heavy fighting in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. There’s particularly fierce fighting in Severodonetsk, a city in the Luhansk region (which is part of the Donbas) that’s considered crucial to Russia’s strategy in the east. Zelenskyy has warned that the battle for Severodonetsk could decide the fate of the Donbas.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskyy, on Thursday told the BBC that Ukraine was losing 100 to 200 soldiers per day amid the fighting. “The Russian forces have thrown pretty much everything non-nuclear at the front and that includes heavy artillery, multiple rocket launch systems and aviation,” Podolyak said, adding, “Our demands for artillery are not just some kind of whim…but an objective need when it comes to the situation on the battlefield.”
Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, in a Telegram post on Thursday said that if Ukraine is able to get Western long-range weapons quickly it will help “clean up Severodonetsk in two or three days.”
Earlier this week, the UK said it would send “cutting edge” guided rocket systems and munitions to Ukraine to bring the country’s forces a “significant boost in capability” — a move that came after US President Joe Biden announced that he would send advanced rocket systems.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, has warned the West against sending Kyiv more weapons — claiming it would only “prolong” the war while threatening to retaliate by hitting new targets in Ukraine.
MLRS combat firing practice, Republic of Korea Army The 5th Artillery Brigade.
Ukraine’s military firing artillery. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
U.S. Marine Corps Marines, Tango Battery, 5th Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, fire a Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions (MFOR) rocket from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher at Camp Pendleton, Calif., on June 1, 2007. The HIMARS system consists of one launcher, two re-supply vehicles, two re-supply trailers and a basic load of nine pods (six rockets per pod) of MFOR rockets. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Seth Maggard) (Released)
U.S. Soldiers assigned to Attack Battery, 2-12th Field Artillery Battalion, Task Force Rock, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, conducts registration and calibration for the M777 A2 Howitzer weapon system in Syria on Sept. 30, 2021. These exercises enable gun sections to deliver timely and accurate fires in support of TF Rock and their fight to defeat Daesh in designated areas of Syria. (U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Isaiah Scott). These are similar to the M777 pieces serving in Ukraine.
US Military M777 Artillery. Ukraine Now Has a Similar System.
Russian servicemen fire an artillery piece during exercises ahead of the Victory Day celebrations, at a range in Rostov Region, Russia April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov
U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to 2-11 Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, conduct field artillery training on Warrior Base, New Mexico Range, Demilitarized Zone, Republic of Korea, March 15, 2015. The training was a part of joint training exercise Foal Eagle 2015 between the U.S. and Republic of Korea (ROK) Armies. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Steven Hitchcock/Released)
Soldiers serving with Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Inf. Division, shoot a round down range from their M777A2 howitzer on Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Aug. 22, 2014. The round was part of a shoot to register, or zero, the howitzers, which had just arrived on KAF from Forward Operating Base Pasab. The shoot also provided training for a fire support team from 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th IBCT, 4th Inf. Div.
On Friday, Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate in a Telegram post said it assessed that Russia could “continue the war at its current pace for another year.”
Jake Epstein is a Junior Breaking News Reporter on the Speed Desk, based in Boston.
John Haltiwanger is a senior politics reporter at Business Insider.
