Ukraines Defense Minister Says Kiev Needs 250,000 Artillery Shells Per Month

 Kiev is asking the European Union to provide Ukraine with 250,000 artillery shells a month, The Financial Times reports citing a letter written by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov to his counterparts in EU member states.

Reznikov says that, on average, Ukraine fires 110,000 155mm-caliber shells per month. According to the defense minister, Ukrainian troops only fire a fifth of the rounds they could because of a lack of supplies, and this shortage is limiting Kiev's progress on the battlefield.

"If we were not limited by the amount of available artillery shells, we could use the full ammunition set, which is 594,000 shells per month," Reznikov said in his letter, as quoted by The Financial Times on Friday.

He added that "for the successful execution of battlefield tasks, the minimum need is at least 60 per cent of the full ammunition set, or 356,400 shells per month."

According to The Financial Times, the European Union plans to deliver 1 billion Euros (over $1 billion) worth of artillery ammunition to Ukraine within a few weeks. EU defense ministers are expected to discuss the issue next week.

In April 2022, Moscow sent a note to NATO member states condemning their military assistance to Kiev. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any arms shipments on Ukrainian territory would be "legitimate targets" for Russian forces.