The British Ministry of Defense said in a war alert on the 5th that long-range artillery fire aimed at opponents outside the invisible distance has disappeared in the Ukraine battle and recently, ‘close combat’ that attacks opponents physically at close range is rapidly increasing.
The Ministry of Defense pointed out that this may be due to the lack of ammunition ‘live ammunition’ such as bullets and bombs in Russia. At one time, the Russian army fired up to 100,000 rounds of bullets and gunpowder cannons a day, overwhelming the Ukrainian army, which was only 1/10 of that.
The lack of ammunition to be fired through rather than weapons such as howitzers and multiple rocket launchers has been pointed out as a military issue in the West supporting Ukraine since two months ago, and this phenomenon seems to have also appeared in the Russian military.
The UK Ministry of Defense also said that Russian re-conscripted reservists were being ordered to attack concrete positions in Ukraine armed only with “firearms and shovels”.
He added that the shovel could be an old-fashioned trench-digging MPL-50 used in hand-to-hand combat without weapons. It is said that the appearance of “relying on low-level technical skills and in many ways savage fighting” that the Battle of Ukraine showed from the beginning is clearly revealed in the trench shovel more than 150 years after it came out.
The Russians are portrayed as having to move on their own feet in the early stages of hand-to-hand combat, with no transport vehicles provided, and being ordered to run towards enemy positions with artillery support drastically reduced.
Contrary to what the British Ministry of Defense said, however, many experts pointed out that the ammunition stockpiles of NATO allies, including the United States, are several times more serious than those of Russia due to lack of pre-war preparations.
The Russian army still has 10 million rounds of ammunition, so even if they fire 50,000 rounds of bullets and bombs a day, they can afford to completely destroy Ukrainian positions for 200 days.
Russia’s spring offensive, which is expected to begin soon, may reveal whether the Russian army still has ammunition many times that of the Ukrainians.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.