Exhausted artillery ammunition, Ukrainian soldiers face "suicide mission" on the battlefield

Đạn pháo cạn kiệt, lính Ukraine đối mặt nhiệm vụ tự sát trên chiến trường - 1 — Ukrainian soldiers in trenches in Donetsk (Photo: AFP).

As Russian forces continue their probing offensive in the Kupyansk area of the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian army is running out of ammunition to counter the enemy onslaught. Mikhail, a sergeant in the Ukrainian armed forces, described it to Le Figaro as a “suicide mission”.

According to Le Figaro , the Ukrainian forces, which had suffered heavy casualties and losses in weapons since the failed counter-offensive in the summer, "had nothing to fight back with". They were forced to take cover and retreat when "Russian artillery shells hit positions less than 500m away".

"We have no more ammunition. We are only allowed to fire three shells a day," the Ukrainian soldier told a French journalist.

Mikhail admitted that Ukrainian artillery was not enough to help his troops hold their positions and that any attempt to attack Russian troops would be impossible. He said the Ukrainian armed forces simply did not have enough resources.

"If we want to launch a spring offensive, we will need more troops, ammunition, F-16 fighters and SCALP cruise missiles. Going into an offensive without air support is suicidal," Ukrainian soldiers warned.

"We are running out of ammunition, but for now we are holding out. We only have 40 percent of the ammunition we need. If Russia launches a major attack here, we will not last long," said Sergeant Sergey, another Ukrainian soldier.

Ukrainian soldiers appear unenthusiastic about the possible outcome of clashes on the battlefield.

"If we are asked to attack, we will attack. But it would be suicidal. We do not have enough men and ammunition," the French newspaper quoted Ukrainian soldiers as saying, adding that they were "suffering huge losses in manpower".

In mid-December last year, Ukrainian marines warned of a “suicide mission” when describing an attempt to cross the Dnieper River, according to the New York Times .

Recently, Celeste Wallander, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, said that the Pentagon is aware of the Ukrainian military's concerns that they "don't have the ammunition stocks that they need."

After Ukraine's failed counterattack, the Russian armed forces also regularly announced the destruction of NATO weapons supplied to Kiev.

Referring to the deadlock in the US Congress over further aid to Kiev, Wallander added: "Without the aid, we would not be able to achieve the pace that we have been providing to Ukraine since the beginning of this conflict."

Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder also admitted that the US Department of Defense had "paused" sending additional weapons to Ukraine from the US arsenal "due to the impact on our military readiness".

“This of course prevents us from meeting the most urgent needs on the battlefield, including things like artillery ammunition,” Mr. Ryder said on January 23.

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