Allies of Ukraine have at their disposal a lot of tools that can bleed the Russian military machine, but so far they have not struck the main blow, namely against the artillery of the Russian Federation.
Points of attention
- Russian artillery remains the main problem for Ukrainian defenders.
- She is the cause of 70% of the losses of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
- Chromium ore is an important component for the production of artillery barrels, so banning its supply to the Russian Federation can solve the problem.
Artillery of the Russian Federation remains the main problem for Ukrainian defenders
According to the data of foreign analysts, about 70% of the losses of the Defense Forces of Ukraine were caused by Russian artillery.
Moreover, it is emphasized that this indicator is a record against the background of the First and Second World Wars.
In more than 2.5 years of war, the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to destroy about 10,000 units of Russian artillery, but this could not solve the problem, because the aggressor country had already switched to a military economy,
By February 2024, it had collected 4,780 pieces of barrel artillery, including howitzers, and 1,130 rocket launchers. In addition, Russian forces fire up to 10,000 shells per day, while the Ukrainian army can only use about 1,800 shells per day due to a shortage of ammunition.
According to foreign analysts, it is the artillery that enables the Russian army to slowly advance on the battlefield.
What should the West do?
One of the best options is to try to stop the production of enemy artillery.
What is important to understand is that there is currently a complex supply chain that provides this segment of the Russian military machine. It needs a lot of ammunition and wears out barrels quickly.
Ensuring that Russia does not have access to ammunition and new gun barrels should be a priority, as its supply chains are quite vulnerable, according to a report by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank and the Open Source Center.
Analysts say the focus now needs to be on sanctions that affect the artillery supply chain, not just advanced technologies like microelectronics:
Experts draw attention to the fact that thousands of tons of chrome ore are much more difficult to smuggle into the country than several thousand microchips.
As you know, chromium is an important component for the production of artillery barrels.
