Umerov wrote letters to EU leaders about critical shortage of shells in the Ukrainian Armed Forces

Ukraine has warned of a "critical" shortage of artillery shells, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, January 31, citing a letter from Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to EU allies.

The letter was sent this week. Russia uses three times as many shells on the frontline as the Ukrainian Armed Forces every day, according to the document, which the news outlet obtained.

According to Umerov, Ukraine uses no more than 2,000 shells a day along the entire 1,500-kilometer-long front line in an attempt to repel Russian attacks.

According to the letter, the Ukrainian army needs 200,000 155-millimeter caliber shells per month.

So far, only 330,000 artillery shells have been delivered, the dpa news agency notes. On January 31, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that by March, the goal of 1 million shells for Ukraine will be fulfilled by only 52%.

At a meeting to be held this week in Brussels, EU defense ministers will try to find a way to increase the amount of ammunition for Ukraine, but the goal of 1 million shells set last year will still not be met.

In March 2023, the European Union decided to supply Kyiv with 1 million artillery shells within a year, mostly 155 mm caliber shells that meet NATO standards. Subsequently, EU countries have repeatedly expressed doubts about the ability to fulfill this goal.

In particular, this was stated by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, citing a lack of production capacity.

Germany has done a lot to increase them by signing framework agreements with industry, but production processes are "stagnant," he said. According to Pistorius, even the decision to switch to a wartime economy cannot lead to the fact that production will be launched in a short time and demand will be met.