Russia Lost Almost 1,000 Artillery Systems in March: Kyiv

Ellie Cook

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Ukraine destroyed the highest number of Russian artillery systems taken out in a single month in March, according to Kyiv, as deep concerns hang over Ukraine's stocks of ammunition powering its own, vital artillery systems.

Russia lost 976 artillery systems last month, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said in a statement posted to social media on Wednesday. "Great job by the Ukrainian warriors," Kyiv added.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Artillery, and the ammunition to keep the systems firing, has been a key part of the land war raging for more than 25 months in eastern and southern Ukraine.

In updated figures published by Ukraine's military on Wednesday, Kyiv said Russian forces had lost a total of 11,142 artillery systems since February 2022. This tally includes the loss of 30 artillery systems over the previous 24 hours, Ukraine said.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that Ukraine had lost 8,629 field artillery guns and mortars in the more than two years of war.

It is not possible to independently verify the battlefield tallies published by either side. Western experts suggest the counts from Kyiv and Moscow will likely be higher than the true figure.

While artillery systems have featured high up on Kyiv's wish list of supplies from its Western backers, the priority for months has been the ammunition to keep the systems operational and useful. Ukrainian officials and Western analysts have said Ukraine's operations have been restrained by shell famine as Russian forces inch westward.

Kyiv's fighters are thought to be firing around a fifth of the ammunition Russia's troops are able to use up.

NATO allies have scrambled to find ways to keep Kyiv's artillery guns working, but it has proved a tall order. The European Union conceded last month that it would fail to meet the deadline it set the previous year to deliver 1 million rounds to Ukraine by the end of March 2024.

The bloc said in mid-March that it would deliver a little over 500,000 rounds by the end of the month, and 1 million before the year is out.

Last month, CNN reported that Moscow will likely soon produce three times the amount of artillery munitions that the U.S. and Europe can manufacture. "What we are in now is a production war," a senior NATO official told the network.

The Czech government has been leading an effort to drum up more ammunition for Ukraine from outside of Europe. Germany said on Tuesday that it would contribute 180,000 rounds to the initiative.