Ukraine War Maps Show Ground Won, Lost as Kyiv Faces Weapons Shortage

Ukraine is facing artillery shortages that could get worse as delays in Western aid threaten to undermine Kyiv's fight against Russia, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank has said.

With U.S. Congress stalled in agreeing further military aid for Kyiv, and Europe's anticipated failure to meet its pledge to provide 1 million artillery shells by March, concerns are growing about whether dwindling artillery could hand Russia an advantage on the battlefield.

An unnamed U.S. military official told U.K. daily business newspaper The Financial Times that delayed American aid could see Ukraine without Western assistance for an unspecified period. The official added that the Pentagon is particularly concerned about Ukraine's ability to maintain its air-defense systems and ammunition supplies.

The newspaper also cited a warning by a senior European diplomat that it will be difficult for Ukraine to keep its current positions without more Western weapons.

Two American soldiers, who have fought for Ukraine as part of its international brigade, spoke to Newsweek on condition of anonymity. They have voiced their concerns about the lack of artillery they encountered on the frontline.

"It's mostly an artillery and drone war. In my mind, I don't think the Ukrainians have had enough artillery," said one soldier who was on the front lines in Zaporizhzhia, Bakhmut and Kupiansk, adding, "Ukraine needs way more artillery."

"The guy with the biggest boom wins. So the more firepower you can throw it, the more chances you have of winning."

Another soldier, who served as a paratrooper in the U.S. military, said he noticed how Ukraine "had a struggle with artillery when I was on the ground. They didn't have enough, and I think things would have really shaped up differently if we had that superiority."

The pair were among a delegation organized by the R.T. Weatherman Foundation that spoke to U.S. lawmakers in Washington, DC, last month to give direct accounts of the war and describe the need for Congress to agree to more aid.

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote soon on a $95 billion emergency spending package for Israel and Ukraine; $60 billion of the funds would go towards weapons and training for the Ukrainians. Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, told Bloomberg on Thursday that there is no shortage of people willing to fight, "but we're running out of equipment."

The ISW said on Friday the collapse of Western aid to Ukraine would likely mean that Kyiv's forces would not be able to hold off the Russian military. It could allow Moscow's troops to push all the way to western Ukraine, which borders NATO.

The independent think tank's latest maps illustrate the extent of Russian advances on Friday into the north of Avdiivka in the Donetsk oblast. It is predicted that Moscow will soon capture the town central to the Kremlin's goal of controlling the Donbas region.

Other maps showed further Russian advances west of Bakhmut, as well as southwest of Dibrova and east of Bilohorivka in the Luhansk oblast.

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