Ukraine’s armed forces are using cluster munitions to compensate for shortages of other shells. Column by Serhiy Zgurets

Situation at the front

According to the General Staff, over 600 invaders and 36 units of Russian artillery were destroyed over the past day. These are high figures and a sign that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are actively conducting counter-battery operations and striking precisely at enemy targets. 

Amidst this, there was an interesting article in The Economist, which, based on the analysis of thermal anomalies in satellite images, estimated that in recent weeks, Ukrainian artillery has launched four times more strikes in certain areas of the front than Russian forces. This is great, but we need guaranteed supplies of ammunition, which is in huge demand. 

Yesterday, the European Defense Agency finally signed the first agreements with European manufacturers on the joint purchase of artillery ammunition for Ukraine. We are talking about 155 mm ammunition. The volumes are unknown, but 1 million shells should be produced in a year. We hope they will make it, because previously, European companies produced only 300 thousand rounds of ammunition per year. The United States produces 20,900 shells per month and plans to reach 90,000 per month only in 2025. This is the rate at which we are currently spending ammunition. Shortages of ammunition are compensated for mainly by cluster munitions, which Ukrainian troops actively use in defense and offense. 

The General Staff reported that the Defense Forces continue to advance in the direction of Robotyne - Novoprokopivka and are operating near Verbove. There is also pressure in the Berdiansk direction, where several powerful attacks were launched against the Russian troops in Novodonetske and Novomayorske. 

There are confirmed changes on the front line in Ukraine's favor near Vasylivka, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces advanced towards Pyatikhatky and Kamianske. Regarding defense, I would like to mention Syrskyi's statement that Ukrainian troops must ensure active defense in the east, preventing the loss of positions in the Kupyansk and Lyman directions, where Russia is finalizing the preparation of new assault units, replacing some troops with the 25th Army, which it is deploying to Ukraine to once again try to take revenge after the recent offensive. 

Fierce fighting also continues in the Bakhmut sector, where Russia is trying to hold its ground despite losses.

The situation near Bakhmut

The commander of the Nakhtihal UAV unit of the Kryla Company, an Armed Forces serviceman with the call sign Kum, said that we are moving forward gradually with sweat and blood. 

His unit is conducting reconnaissance, counter-battery combat, adjusting artillery and destroying the Russian enemy. Since the beginning of January 2023, Nakhtihal has been firing artillery at Russian troops, tanks and other weapons almost daily in the Bakhmut direction. In one day, they destroyed four Russian tanks and corrected HIMARS on the Tyulpan self-propelled artillery system, which fires 240-caliber artillery. 

Another memorable moment was an air strike on a communications center in Bakhmut. At that time, Russian writer Alexei Shorokhov was wounded. It all depends on how quickly the military finds the target. As soon as it happens, the coordinates are transmitted to the headquarters, and in 3 to 4 minutes the artillery is ready to open fire. 

The Kum's unit has recently received cluster munitions, which they use to target 20-30 invaders. If they are in an open area, this is a very effective weapon. The unit has shown efficiency since January, and the number of crews is growing, so new equipment is needed. The Leleka-100 UAV, for which funds are being raised, is a Ukrainian development of 2023, which has a very high-quality digital optical module (both night and day), is resistant to advanced Russian electronic warfare, and is the best price on the market. The Russian forces can use 10-15 drones in one area, and we can use 2-3. Ukraine especially lacks reconnaissance UAVs.

Purchase of body armor for the Ukrainian Armed Forces

The war is going to be long, and the frontline needs munitions, uniforms, and body armor. We hope that the staffing changes in Ukraine's Defense Ministry and the appointment of Rustem Umerov will accelerate changes in approaches to defense purchases. Certain things in the procurement of food, uniforms, and jackets are now in the spotlight. 

It is strange that the Ministry does not have a single deputy for procurement, because after Shapovalov's dismissal, no one wanted to take this position. Denys Sharapov is currently performing these functions. I hope these things will be fixed. 

Yuriy Fedorov, director of the Kharkiv Personal Protective Equipment Plant, noted that the situation is typical for almost all army supplies. The collective Zaluzhnyi decided that a certain number of bulletproof vests were needed for September 1, and passed this on to Reznikov. Then it turns out that the Defense Ministry cannot buy them if the parliament has not provided funding. It waits for the funds and announces a tender. When the tender is announced, there may be one to two days left before the date Zaluzhnyi asked for.

Officers do not want to take personal responsibility for postponing the delivery date. Companies know about the planned purchases, contract materials, vacate production facilities, and when they see the tender, they realize that they will not be able to deliver in time, but they deliberately violate the deadlines to avoid going bankrupt. 

There are Soviet standards that the Armed Forces are now using. They relate to the deformation of plates and ballistic packages, when the tarpaulin has withstood a bullet, but the armor package is punctured and can break ribs. 

In Ukraine, the standard provides for an injury of no more than 25 mm, while in NATO it is 44 mm. This is a huge issue for field medicine. In NATO, there are no wars like the Russian-Ukrainian war. We can only dream of such fast field medicine, so according to Ukrainian standards, the deformation should be much smaller than in the Alliance, because it is not possible to rehabilitate soldiers after being hit as quickly. Body armor must be more reliable. Ukrainian standards provide for all the tests of Western countries: temperature, wetting. Ukrainian bulletproof vest takes the best of both standards. European and global industrial giants are not ready to fulfill Ukrainian requirements individually. They have mass production and are not going to improve their products to Ukrainian standards. However, three companies have done so and received permits to supply the Ministry of Defense. The bulletproof vests differ in price. We have a war not of bullets, but of shrapnel, so we need a large area of anti-shrapnel protection, which is the most expensive. Also, bulletproof vests are produced only with ceramic plates of the 6th class of protection, which means they cannot cost 10-30 thousand UAH, because all technologies must be implemented in Ukraine's vests. They protect the chest, back, sides, shoulders, hips, neck, and load-bearing belt. This cannot but affect the cost.