![]() ![]() This seems to have been one of the main uses of the U.S.-suppled HIMARS rockets, with Ukraine claiming to have destroyed 50 ammo dumps in July. In addition to this inefficient use of ammunition, Russia has another problem: stockpiles are being blown up by long-range strikes. The result is the utter devastation of the towns and cities they capture, and the expenditure of large quantities of ammunition. This has been particularly obvious in urban warfare, where Russian forces have repeated the tactics developed in Chechnya, Rather than infantry fighting building-by-building, massed artillery demolishes entire blocks when they encounter any resistance. emphasizes the need for precise artillery fire, Russia prefers to use massed fires to make up for inadequacies in its army, tracing this back to the Napoleonic wars and beyond: “an army that is unable or unwilling to invest in its manpower must compensate with something else.” ![]() In an article entitled ‘ Why Russia Keeps Turning to Mass Firepower’ in Foreign Policy, Lucian Staiano-Daniels notes that while the U.S. The Russians mainly used this tactic – which resulted in more territorial gains than any other approach – in eastern Ukraine.” “The Russian military responded to these failures by reverting to tactics based on barrage fire: it launched massive artillery strikes on Ukrainian positions that lasted several hours, clearing the way for offensives involving infantry and armoured vehicles. How has Russia run through such ammunition reserves, reserves which presumably were supposed to be sufficient for a full-scale war with NATO, without achieving its war aims in Ukraine? While Ukraine has increasingly developed precision indirect fire to make best use of their resources, using drones to adjust their aim and hitting Russian tanks with a few well-directed shells, the Russians have relied on more and more firepower.Īs a piece by the European Council on Foreign Relations noted last August, after the initial advances were defeated: Troops are reportedly being issued ammunition p reviously declared unfit for use. Russia is reportedly drawing on old ammunition reserves, but reportedly as many of 50% of the shells are visibly rusty and are not in a satisfactory state due to poor storage and sheer age. The sharp reduction in the amount being fired suggests that stockpiles are now severely depleted. Mark Urban of the BBC says the total stockpile may be as many as 16 million rounds - but most likely the Russians themselves do not know the exact number, nor how many of their 40+ year old rounds can still be fired. At the start of the war, Ukrainian analysts estimated that the Russians has some 525,000 rounds stockpiled in the country. ![]()
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