Russia Fast Approaching Two Grim Milestones, According to Kyiv

Russian forces in Ukraine are burning through military equipment, figures from Ukraine indicate, as Moscow fast approaches new milestones for materiel losses ahead of the second anniversary of the outbreak of full-scale war.

Moscow's troops have lost nearly 10,000 artillery systems in the more than 23 months of war, according to figures published by Ukraine's military. Russia has lost a total of 9,411 artillery systems since February 2022, including 24 in the past day, Kyiv's armed forces said on Thursday.

In the same update, Ukraine said Russia had lost a total of 980 multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) since the start of its full-scale invasion.

The rate of previous losses suggests Moscow may reach 1,000 MLRS lost in the war effort approximately within the coming four weeks. If Russia continues to lose a similar number of artillery systems each day as the Ukrainian General Staff has put forth in recent weeks, it will likely hit the 10,000 mark in the next three to four weeks.

It is impossible to verify the Ukrainian military's tally, and Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

The figures do offer insight into the impact wrought by nearly 24 months of grinding, attritional warfare that has had a constant emphasis on artillery.

"Russian artillery stockpiles are totally depleted," Ivan Stupak, a former officer in Ukraine's Security Service who now advises Ukrainian lawmakers, told Newsweek in November 2023.

As Ukrainian fighters battled to get their ultimately slow counteroffensive off the ground in summer and fall 2023, both militaries were locked in an attritional conflict where "artillery is king," Frederik Mertens, an analyst with the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, told Newsweek in late September.

Ukraine has also suffered large-scale artillery losses. Moscow said on Wednesday that Kyiv has lost 7,985 field artillery guns and mortars since February 2022. It is not possible to verify this figure.

Artillery and its associated ammunition have featured high on Ukraine's wish list of aid from its Western backers. But the war has burned through NATO's ammunition stockpiles, depleting the supplies of Ukraine's supporters even as Kyiv holds off on exhausting its rounds.

Ukraine has been firing around 2,000 shells each day, whereas Russian artillery batteries have been using around five times as much ammunition, reports have suggested in recent months. Western analysts have suggested the shortages have constrained Kyiv's plans for its operations along the frontlines.

Because of artillery ammunition shortages biting into Ukraine, NATO countries have committed to upping their production. In January, the alliance said it had inked a contract worth $1.2 billion to produce artillery rounds, refilling NATO states' stockpiles while maintaining the flow of aid to Ukraine. The alliance is planning on buying around 220,000 155mm artillery shells, a high-demand shell.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Army said it was hoping to dramatically increase its output of 155mm shells, allowing the U.S. military to "restock ourselves and also restock our allies."

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