Ukraine needs more than 500 thousand 155-mm shells per month - military expert Serhiy Zgurets

EU countries agree on a plan to supply 1 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine

EU countries, with the participation of foreign ministers and defense ministers, have agreed to jointly purchase one million rounds of ammunition for Ukraine. This is actually a multi-layered plan, as it provides for the allocation of one billion euros from the European Peace Fund to compensate for the supply of these munitions from the stockpiles of NATO member states. The project also envisages that one billion euros will be allocated for the purchase of ammunition through the European Defense Agency. This agency unites the defense companies of the European Union and is an integrated platform for EU orders. EU countries will also order ammunition to increase the production capacity of their own defense plants. All this should ensure the supply of one million artillery shells to Ukraine over the next 12 months.

I would like to mention that all European ammunition companies produced only 300,000 rounds of ammunition last year. Now they are forced to increase these figures. However, the increase in ammunition production creates new problems. Several foreign media outlets have reported that the low rate of ammunition production for Ukraine is due to a shortage of explosives. The shortage of these substances can significantly delay the production of one million rounds of ammunition. In particular, we are talking about TNT, gunpowder and nitrocellulose.

Production of 155-mm artillery shells.

When we talk about one million rounds of ammunition, we should correlate this figure with the real needs of the Ukrainian army. The Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that when it comes to 155-mm ammunition, the needs of the Armed Forces are only ⅕ satisfied. The Ukrainian army fires more than 100 thousand rounds of ammunition every month. Therefore, Ukraine needs 500,000 artillery shells per month in combat conditions. This amount of ammunition will help the Defense Forces to reliably control the front line and destroy the Russian enemy. 500 thousand rounds of ammunition per month is a standard that meets Ukraine's needs. This means that the needs of the Ukrainian army will be met not only by the EU countries, but also from the US stockpiles, which have already provided Ukraine with more than 1 million rounds of 155-mm ammunition over the year of the war.

Ukrainian pilots completed training on F-16 aircraft in the United States

The Ukrainian Air Force Command has finally released the training results of Ukrainian pilots on American F-16 aircraft. General Serhiy Holubtsov said that after a thorough evaluation of the pilots' three-week training at the U.S. military base, it was decided that Ukrainian pilots could learn to fly F-16s in less than six months. These conclusions were made by the U.S. military, who worked with Ukraine's pilots. According to General Holubtsov, this may affect further estimates of how long it will take for Ukrainian pilots to master F-16s.

American multifunctional light fighter aircraft General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon

Training of reserves and rotation of military in the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Ihor Shvaika, a soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said that the situation in Bakhmut has not changed in recent months. Heavy fighting is taking place near Avdiivka and Bakhmut. Russians are throwing large resources at the assault on Ukrainian positions. In particular, manpower. Shvaika emphasized that the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the Donetsk region continue to do their main job - to grind down Russian units.

Ihor Shvaika emphasized the importance of units rotation that are actively involved in combat operations. He is convinced that more efforts should be made to train new units to conduct more successful offensive and defensive operations. Shvaika said that despite the dramatic changes in the Armed Forces, bureaucracy is still a problem in the army. According to him, Ukrainian military spend a lot of time on this problem. However, according to him, in times of war, Ukraine's military are fully adaptable to any work, including bureaucratic work. He noted that logic in written documentation in the Armed Forces also has a positive component. After all, there is information that needs to be duplicated. And in the context of combat operations, namely enemy attacks on headquarters and command centers, duplication of information often has a positive result.

In addition, AFU serviceman Ihor Shvaika said that there is an internal investigation for every deviation from the order of military service. The same applies to the loss of weapons, property and equipment. During the official investigation, the circumstances and causes of the destruction or damage to weapons and equipment are established. All this is recorded. According to Shvaika, this is routine work in wartime and there are no difficulties. The main thing in such situations is coordination and interaction.