This is how many artillery shells Ukraine is using to defeat Russia

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are using tens of thousands of artillery shells a month to smash Russia’s offensive in the east according to the Ukrainian Minister of Defense. 

In a letter appealing to the European Union for more supplies, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Ukrainian forces were firing upwards of 110,000 shells a month.

“On average Ukraine was firing 110,000 155mm-caliber shells a month, he says — a quarter of the amount used by Russia," wrote Financial Times’ Andy Bounds—who obtained a copy of Reznikov's letter to leaders of the European Union’s 27 member states. 

“The request far exceeds the help the EU is discussing sending, underlining the size of the task facing Kyiv as its war with Russia enters a second year,” Bounds added.

Reznikov wrote that Ukraine’s artillery was playing a “crucial role in eliminating the enemy’s military power” and stressed the importance of his country’s supply limitations. 

Russia is firing approximately five times more artillery shells according to Reznikov, a situation that makes Ukraine’s defense, and eventual counter-offensive, far more difficult.

“If we were not limited by the amount of available artillery shells, we could use the full ammunition set, which is 594,000 shells per month,” Ukraine’s Defense Minister wrote. 

“According to our estimates, for the successful execution of battlefield tasks, the minimum need is at least 60 percent of the full ammunition set,” Reznikov added. 

If Ukraine had 60 percent of its full ammunition set then that would mean its artillery forces could fire upwards of “356,400 shells per month” according to Reznikov.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister also sent a letter to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borell, asking for help. 

Borell has put a plan in motion to spend one billion euros to reimburse member countries who supply Ukraine with badly needed artillery shells according to Andy Bound. But some analysts say the problem isn't about the money.

“It’s not coming fast enough, but it’s coming,” French defense analyst François Heisbourg told the New York Times’ Steve Erlanger. 

“It isn’t a question of resources or money. The €1 billion is not the problem, it’s to get those factories up and running, and that takes time,” Heisbourg added. 

Erlanger spoke with one anonymous European official who revealed that there were only 12 companies in 10 European Union countries that could produce the type of shells Ukraine needs, and they only produce a combined 650,000 a year. 

That 650,000 number also includes “other types of ammunition that are in short supply,” Erlanger wrote, “ including 120-millimeter rounds needed for German Leopard 2 tanks and 105-millimeter rounds needed for the older Leopard 1 tank.”

Luckily, Ukrainian forces aren’t the only ones suffering from an artillery shortage. Erlanger noted that Russia was also having problems supplying its soldiers with shells. 

"Russia, too, is facing ammunition shortages, and its munitions factories are working at speed. But it has also reduced the number of shells it is firing,” Erlanger wrote. 

“Last summer in the Donbas, the Russians were firing 40,000 to 50,000 artillery rounds per day, while the Ukrainians were firing 6,000 to 7,000 a day,” Erlanger continued, a worrying sign as the war enters the spring fighting season.