{"id":266508,"date":"2023-03-18T06:58:41","date_gmt":"2023-03-18T06:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=266508"},"modified":"2023-03-21T07:36:29","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T07:36:29","slug":"ukraine-burns-through-ammunition-in-bakhmut-risking-future-fights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=266508","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine Burns Through Ammunition in Bakhmut, Risking Future Fights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction — March 17, 2023<\/strong><\/h1>\n

While the Corporate Western news media is no longer trying to disguise the difficulties faced by Ukrainian forces, we believe that they are MASSIVELY OVER-ESTIMATING Russian casualties.<\/p>\n

The following NYT report claims that over 200,000 Russians have been killed or wounded since the start of the war. That figure was probably concocted by Western intelligence, who have a vested in how this war is perceived in the West.<\/p>\n

That’s where MSM journalists and publications like the New York Times come in. So while Ukraine casualties may indeed be near 100,000 dead<\/a>, we suspect that Russian casualties may be a fraction of that.<\/p>\n

Of course, that’s not something I can confirm but bear in mind as you read the following that the Western MSM is being instructed and informed by Western intelligence and various interest groups with a view to the West entering the fray at some point. That’s why they want to maximise the perception of Russian casualties, at least in the eyes of the average Westerner so they won’t be too daunted by the prospect of war with Russia.<\/p>\n

The globalist need us to see Russians as potential adversaries who can be defeated. Ed.<\/p>\n

By Thomas Gibbons-Neff,\u00a0Lara Jakes<\/strong> and Eric Schmitt \u2013 New York Times March 16, 2023<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Ukrainian military is firing thousands of artillery shells a day as it tries to hold the eastern city of Bakhmut, a pace that American and European officials say is unsustainable and could jeopardize a planned springtime campaign that they hope will prove decisive.<\/p>\n

The bombardment has been so intense that the Pentagon raised concerns with Kyiv recently after several days of nonstop artillery firing, two U.S. officials said, highlighting the tension between Ukraine\u2019s decision to defend Bakhmut at all costs and its hopes for retaking territory in the spring. One of those officials said the Americans warned Ukraine against wasting ammunition at a key time.<\/p>\n

With so much riding on a Ukrainian counteroffensive, the United States and Britain are preparing to ship thousands of NATO and Soviet-type artillery rounds and rockets to help shore up supplies for a coming Ukrainian offensive.<\/p>\n

But a senior American defense official described that as a \u201clast-ditch effort\u201d because Ukraine\u2019s allies do not have enough ammunition to keep up with Ukraine\u2019s pace and their stocks are critically low. Western manufacturers are ramping up production, but it will take many months for new supplies to begin meeting demand.<\/p>\n

This has put Kyiv in an increasingly perilous position: Its troops are likely to have one meaningful opportunity this year to go on the offensive, push back Russian forces and retake land that was occupied after the invasion began last year. And they will probably have do it while contending with persistent ammunition shortages<\/p>\n

Adding to the uncertainty, Ukrainian casualties have been so severe that commanders will have to decide whether to send units to defend Bakhmut or use them in a spring offensive, several of the officials said. Many of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.<\/p>\n

Artillery has become the defining weapon of the war in Ukraine, including howitzers and mortars. Both sides have powerful antiaircraft systems, so the fighting is being waged largely on the ground. As the year-old war continues, a major factor in who perseveres is which side has enough ammunition and troops.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Soldiers from the 24th Mechanized Brigade outside Toretsk, Ukraine, this month. The bodies of separatist fighters of the Donetsk People\u2019s Republic lay where they attempted an assault to gain territory two weeks before. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

More than 200,000 Russians<\/a> are estimated to have been wounded or killed since the start of the war. The Ukrainian figure is more than 100,000. Russia can conscript forces from its population, which is around three times the size of Ukraine\u2019s, but both sides are contending with ammunition shortages. Russia\u2019s formations are firing more ammunition than Ukraine\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need shells for mortars,\u201d a Ukrainian soldier fighting in Bakhmut said in recent days. He said his battalion had not been resupplied. A Ukrainian tank commander, whose T-80 tank has been used in the city\u2019s defense, said he had barely any tank ammunition left.<\/p>\n

Another commander in a brigade that has been instrumental in holding<\/a> Bakhmut posted on Facebook on Tuesday that there was a \u201ccatastrophic shortage of shells.\u201d He described an incident in which his unit disabled an advanced Russian T-90 tank but was forbidden from firing artillery to finish it off because \u201cit\u2019s too expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pentagon estimated that Ukraine was firing several thousand artillery shells a day across the 600-mile front line, which includes Bakhmut, a city that is almost surrounded by Russian troops. Moscow\u2019s forces control roughly half the city and are encroaching on the supply lines the Ukrainians need to defend the rest.<\/p>\n

The United States hopes to produce 90,000 artillery shells per month, but that is likely to take two years<\/a>. The European Union is pooling resources<\/a> to manufacture and buy about a million shells. That, too, will take time. And a secret British task force is leading an effort to find and buy Soviet-style ammunition<\/a>, which Ukraine primarily relies on, from around the world.<\/p>\n

Ukraine has roughly 350 Western-supplied howitzers<\/a> and, even with battlefield losses and mechanical failures, significantly more Soviet-era artillery pieces.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to support them more, to provide more weapons,\u201d Lithuania\u2019s vice foreign minister, Egidijus Meilunas, said in an interview on Wednesday. He cast doubt on the effectiveness of aging Soviet-era weapons and said, \u201cThe best solution would be to find possibilities to increase production in NATO member states.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is not easy, even for some of the most advanced militaries in the world. The United States and its allies did not stockpile weaponry in anticipation of supplying an artillery war. Hundreds of new tanks and armored vehicles that are being sent to Ukraine will certainly aid its advance, but without enough artillery support, their effect will be limited.<\/p>\n

For now, the Biden administration remains confident that Bakhmut will not sap Ukraine\u2019s ammunition and troops so much that it dooms a springtime counteroffensive. But the longer the battle rages, the more likely that is to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ukrainians are taking casualties. I do not mean to underestimate that,\u201d John F. Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesman, said on Tuesday. \u201cBut they are not taking casualties on the size and scale that the Russians are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The 80th Air Assault Brigade fired a British 105-millimeter howitzer toward Russian positions in the eastern city of Bakhmut this month.<\/p><\/div>\n

But numbers alone do not tell the story of Bakhmut, the site of one of the war\u2019s bloodiest battles. The Kremlin-backed Wagner paramilitary group is using units of former prisoners to break through Ukrainian lines. That means battle-hardened troops from Ukraine are dying as they defend the city against less trained Russian foot soldiers.<\/p>\n

Bakhmut is a small city, but it provides road access farther east and has also become symbolically important for both sides. \u201cThere is no part of Ukraine about which one can say that it can be abandoned,\u201d President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said this month. His office announced plans<\/a> this week to further bolster the city\u2019s defenses.<\/p>\n

The Biden administration has not put a timeline on the battle there, saying that only Ukraine could make a decision about whether to pull back or keep fighting.<\/p>\n

Camille Grand, a defense expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, who until last fall was NATO\u2019s assistant secretary general for defense investment, said it was both politically important and militarily necessary for Ukraine to show that it would defend its territory. But, he said, \u201cthey need to demonstrate that it was worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is not to say there are no tactical reasons for continuing the protracted slog in Bakhmut, he said. It could drain Russia of resources and prevent its troops from heading farther west, where it could conceivably win another breakthrough for Moscow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be the logic of expending so much blood and ammo on Bakhmut,\u201d Mr. Grand said. \u201cThe alternative is that they got dragged into a situation that, in the long term, plays in Russia\u2019s favor and now it\u2019s difficult to get out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIs it correct to assess that the Ukrainians are tapping into their reserves, putting them in a more difficult position to do this open artillery barrage that would be needed to start an offensive against fortified Russian lines elsewhere?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the big question now.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With so much riding on a Ukrainian counteroffensive, the US and Britain are preparing to ship thousands of artillery rounds and rockets in readiness. However, at the current rate of fire western officials worry that Ukraine will have little in reserve for the spring offensive<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":266513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[91,116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russia","category-ukraine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=266508"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":266531,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266508\/revisions\/266531"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/266513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=266508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=266508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=266508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}