This is how Kyiv’s allies saved the Ukrainians in their hour of need

It’s been over two years since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, and in all of that time, there has been one weapon that’s dominated the war: artillery. There is no other weapon that has proven to be as useful or as deadly. 

Artillery has accounted for roughly eighty percent of casualties on both sides of the fight according to Time Magazine. This is why Kyiv’s recent artillery shell shortage is such an important problem for the Ukrainians fighting on the frontline. 

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A lack of shells may be one of the reasons behind Ukraine's withdrawal from Avdiivka in February and based on the power a single battery can deal with advancing Russian soldiers, the theory that a lack of ammunition led to Avdiivka is possible. 

“Artillery is both versatile and devastating,” wrote Royal United Services Institute Senior Fellow Jack Watling in an article for Time Magazine. Watling used the M109 as just one example of how a single howitzer could shape the battlefield. 

The M109 can deliver 530 pounds or 230 kilograms of high explosives to a 15-mile area of the battlefield with a two or three-minute latency. The artillery piece can be used to hit fortifications or as a tool to repel attacking groups of soldiers. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By АрміяInform, CC BY 4.0

“The effect is not just the physical damage inflicted, but the psychological fear artillery instills in soldiers and the constraints it imposes on an opposing force that must plan to deal with this threat,” Watling wrote, making it a powerful tool. 

However, Ukraine's artillery shell shortage has been limiting what the country’s armed forces can do since at least December 2023 according to several reports. BBC News noted in one of its reports that this will have serious consequences. 

“Without ammunition, Ukraine won't just have to stop trying to recapture land: it won't be able to stop Russia's attacks and could ultimately lose this war,” wrote reporter Abdujalil Abdurasulov. This is the worrying situation Ukraine now finds itself in. 

All is not lost, though. While the United States has been floundering in its support, Kyiv’s European allies have been stepping up—particularly Czechia. On February 18th, Czech Deputy Defense Minister Jan Jires revealed his country found 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine.  

"We have been able to identify a huge number of already existing artillery ammunition,” Jires said, speaking at the Munich Security conference according to a Twitter post of his remarks from Politico reporter Paul McLeary. 

These shells were “sitting in non-Western countries,” Jires explained, and they could be purchased from countries like South Korea, South Africa, and Turkey for $1.5 billion—Czechia just needed help paying for the shells. 

“Most of these countries [are] unwilling to support Ukraine directly for political reasons so they need a middleman,” Jires explained, and a coalition of countries willing to give money to the initiative quickly formed following the announcement.  

Belgium, Canada, Denmark, and the Netherlands were the first countries to pledge cash to the new artillery ammunition initiative according to The Telegraph, and thirteen other countries soon joined the project to purchase shells for Ukraine. 

Czechia raised the money it needed to purchase the shells within three weeks of Jires’ announcement and artillery ammunition was set to begin shipping to Ukraine within weeks, a situation that may have saved Ukraine in the short term. 

“With months’ worth of shells on the way, Ukrainian brigades no longer had to conserve what little ammo they’d been saving for emergencies. In early March, Ukraine’s batteries opened fire,” wrote David Axe in an article for The Telegraph. 

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Axe added that Ukrainian troops stopped their retreat from Avdiivka 5 miles to the east of the city and turned around to counterattack Russian forces and “stopped the Russian offensive dead in its tracks” with help from adequate artillery support. 

A shortage of artillery shells was the “main reason the Ukrainians nearly lost a whole eastern oblast to the Russians this winter and spring” Axe wrote, but he added that an infusion of ammo was also the main reason why Ukraine didn’t lose more territory after Avdiivka’s fall.