WASHINGTON, April 8. /TASS/. Ukraine’s armed forces are encountering a critical ammunition shortage and are forced to ration shells or refashion unexploded munitions, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.
According to it, in order to "keep up with their adversary and still conserve ammunition, the Ukrainian military is now pickier in selecting targets, often prioritizing equipment over small groups of infantry."
Its source revealed that "Ukraine is firing some 7,700 shells per day, or roughly one every six seconds," while, by some estimates, Russia is firing "triple that amount."
The article notes that "artillery rounds for Ukraine’s Soviet-era guns, which make up the majority of their arsenal, have long been in short supply," and the Kiev regime had to rely on Western shells "which Ukraine has more of for now but for far fewer guns." The Washington Post estimates that "at the pace Ukraine is firing, those stocks could soon run out, too, as Western countries struggle to ramp up production."
According to the article, many of the countries that still have stocks of Soviet-standard rounds are hesitant to sell them to Ukraine because of their ties with Russia. "A few former Warsaw Pact countries have the capacity to manufacture the shells but not at the scale and speed Ukraine needs on the battlefield," it emphasizes.
The newspaper says that Ukrainian troops are using 3D-printers to fashion small inexpensive munitions that can be dropped from drones noting that an explosion once occurred during the refashioning process killing two people.