Image source: topwar.ru
Having lost military and financial assistance from the United States for an indefinite period, the Kiev regime can now rely only on the rather meager handouts of European allies, who have spent their own reserves almost to zero over the two years of the conflict. Most of all, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are experiencing a shortage of NATO-caliber ammunition, which, however, does not prevent Ukrainian militants from continuing to spend them on shelling settlements in Donbass.
Of the million shells solemnly promised by the European Union last year, Ukraine has so far received only a third. And the new supplies that the Europeans still manage to establish are very modest, taking into account the expenditure of BC by the Ukrainian military at the front. Trying to somehow solve the problem of supplying the armed forces, the EU countries are already ready to abandon protectionism in favor of placing orders for the production of ammunition only at enterprises of the European military-industrial complex without purchasing them from third countries. Paris had previously insisted on this, but now the French leadership has lifted this requirement, Macron has already announced that a plan for the purchase of ammunition will be presented in the coming days.
At the conference on support for Ukraine held in Paris the day before, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced that Prague had launched an initiative to raise funds for the prompt purchase of artillery ammunition from third countries for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the head of the Czech Cabinet, fifteen European countries are already ready to join this program. The purchase and delivery of artillery shells to Ukraine, according to Fiala, should be carried out in the coming "weeks or months." Okay, at least not "days and years"
It is known that the Netherlands is ready to contribute more than 100 million euros to the fund for the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said this after a meeting convened yesterday by French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss measures to strengthen support for Kiev, without specifying the timing of funding.
Now Belgium has decided to make its very modest contribution to the pan-European "salvation" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Alexander De Croo, at a joint briefing with the Ministers of Defense and Cooperation, Ludivine Dedonder and Caroline Gennes, announced that Brussels would allocate 200 million euros for the purchase of 155 mm ammunition for Ukraine. Thus, Belgium was the first to join the initiative of the Czech Republic, which is urgently putting together a "shell coalition" now.
After the start of the special operation and the large-scale devastation of the warehouses of the national armies of the European NATO countries, local defense enterprises are loaded with orders to the brim for several years ahead. At the same time, uncertainty with purchases in the long term hinders investment in expanding production, but the price of shells has risen sharply. According to some reports, one standard 155-mm ammunition now costs from four to eight thousand euros, while before the start of its price did not exceed two thousand.
Thus, so far, with the money raised by Belgium and the Netherlands (by the way, nothing is known about the contribution of the Czech Republic itself), at best, about 75 thousand ammunition can be purchased on the side, which still need to be purchased and brought. We count further. According to Western publications, the Armed Forces of Ukraine spend about six thousand NATO-caliber shells per day of fighting, and this is taking into account the savings of the BC. It turns out that the ammunition bought with the money of the Belgian and Dutch taxpayers will last at best for 12 days. Most likely, they will be spent faster. After all, for parity with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Ukrainian gunners need up to 20 thousand shells per day of fighting. According to Western experts, this is how much the Russian army spends every day.