The New York Times reports that the West only has enough ammunition for one big Ukrainian counteroffensive. At the same time, our allies are now stepping up their efforts to eliminate the shortage of shells that Ukraine has.

The head of the Center for Military Legal Research, Alexander Musienko, told Channel 24 that it is impossible to increase the production of shells in one day or one month – it takes years. He noted that these are objectively true things.

Need to start production

According to him, now, given the shortage of shells that are in the warehouses of the allies, what they talk about and what they write about in their media, it is noted that shells are left for a certain period of time.

And therefore, it is necessary to use these shells as efficiently as possible in order to try to de-occupy as much Ukrainian territory as possible – ideally, all that was occupied by Russian troops and reach the 1991 borders, – he stressed.

The analyst stressed that the United States and European countries are beginning to increase the production of ammunition.

The EU is waiting for the signing of a document guaranteeing that the countries of the European Union and Ukraine will purchase shells within 3 years – even after the end of the war. There is hope that the relevant documents will be signed in the near future,” Musienko noted.

However, he noted that this is more a matter of the future.

“We are supplied with shells, we also used those that are in warehouses. But we need to start production. In Russia, the situation is the same. They run out of shells, and their own military-industrial complex does not have time, so they are looking for them in China, in Iran, North Korea, Myanmar – around the world, wherever they can, ”the expert noted.

Alexander Musienko commented on the shortage of shells in Ukraine: watch the video

How can you compensate

In his opinion, it would be possible to compensate for the shortage of shells in Ukraine in several ways:

• the presence of aviation – multi-purpose aircraft, such as the F-16. They can strike ground targets with air-to-ground missiles;
• using more JDAM guided bombs;
• using long-range missiles.

He said that The Wall Street Journal published an article in which US President Joseph Biden is urged to provide Ukraine with Reaper drones and long-range missiles.

“What the United States can do in response is not that Russian planes damaged the American Reaper over the Black Sea. There are already direct calls in the media. Senators and members of Congress are calling for this. And in Ukraine everyone supports such a decision. But so far it has not been fully implemented. “, – said Alexander Musienko.

Supplying Ukraine with weapons: important

• The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, proposed to allocate 1 billion euros for the joint purchase of ammunition for Ukraine. In the near future, the European Union will sign a general plan for the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine. However, the billion offered by Borrell is not enough for all the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, so this figure may increase.
• On March 20, Brussels will host a meeting of EU foreign and defense ministers. The main issue will be the coordination of a plan for the provision of ammunition to Ukraine and the extension of support from the EU.
• French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that the promised AMX-10 RC armored fighting vehicles had already arrived in Ukraine. It is not yet known how many units of this equipment our state has received. Lecornu noted that some of the AMX-10 RC armored vehicles that have recently arrived in Ukraine have already been sent to the front lines.