A Ukrainian serviceman prepares artillery shells [File: Kateryna Klochko/AP Photo]
The Telegraph: How the West lost the artillery shell race and what it means for Ukraine
As the weather worsens and front lines are frozen in place, Ukraine is struggling to secure enough artillery shells to change the equation.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned key shipments of 155mm munitions have dropped off after fighting erupted between Israel and Hamas last month.
Both Ukraine and Russia have struggled to maintain stockpiles of shells after nearly two years of long-range duels across vast battlefields.
But recently Moscow has received one million shells from its ally North Korea in 10 separate shipments since August, according to South Korea’s intelligence service.
This has helped sustain Russian forces in a renewed attempt to capture Avdiivka, pummelling the Donetsk region town relentlessly with artillery fire.
At the same time, the European Union has conceded its one-year target to deliver a million shells to Kyiv by next March will not be reached.
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WNU editor: During the Second World War artillery was responsible for over 70% of the casualties on the Russian front. This war is no different. But what is sobering about this war is that for the past year I have been reading and hearing reports that for every shell Ukraine uses, Russia uses five. And it is not only artillery that Ukraine is in short supply. According to numerous Western reports Ukraine is now being outmatched in firepower in almost everything. This includes missiles, drones, the deployment of air resources and their ordinances, and armor. Needless to say that in a war of attrition, and this war is a war of attrition, the side that has the most resources will eventually win.