New US weapons narrow gap between Ukraine and Russian forces

Harriet Barber

16 June 2024 at 2:28 pm·2-min read

Lt Gen Ivan Havrylyuk said most of the equipment and ammunition pledged by the US in April was still in transit - Armyinform

US military artillery shells have reached frontline Ukrainian units and have started to break Russian battlefield momentum.

Lt Gen Ivan Havrylyuk, Ukraine’s first deputy defence minister, said that the ammunition resupply had been critical but that most of the equipment pledged by the US in April was still in transit.

“It takes time to load ships that must then cross the Atlantic,” he said. “But we are already seeing the results.”

The war in Ukraine has turned into a war of attrition with artillery shell volumes playing a major role, to the Kremlin’s advantage. It has ramped up shell production and organised supplies from North Korea but Gen Havrylyuk said that this advantage had already fallen to five-to-one from seven-to-one.

“With time, when we set everything up, we will reach an advantage,” he said.

Russia has been on the offensive along the front line since October but even hardcore pro-war Russian military bloggers have now admitted that this momentum is stalling and its successes are more limited.

A Ukrainian soldier prepares artillery shells at their fighting position near Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine, on June 9 — A Ukrainian soldier prepares artillery shells near Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast - Jose Colon/Anadolu

The Two Majors Telegram channel, which has 720,000 subscribers, complained in a post on Sunday morning that the Kremlin was struggling to match the technological superiority of US missiles and long-range artillery.

“The Russian army retains the initiative, but because technology has changed the nature of the war, our successes are of a tactical nature and now oriented towards depleting the enemy’s military machine,” it said.

On the front line in southern Ukraine, Russia’s ministry of defence claimed the capture of the village of Zahirne, but despite the bombastic rhetoric from the Kremlin analysts have generally agreed that when US kit starts to come more into play, it will shift momentum away from Russian forces.

A 24th Mechanised Brigade soldier carries a 120mm mortar to fire at Russian troops near Chasiv Yar, on Saturday — A 24th Mechanised Brigade soldier on the frontline where troops are beginning to see benefit of US hardware - UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES/REUTERS

Ukraine dismissed on Friday a ceasefire plan put forward by Vladimir Putin as a fake because it demanded the surrender of land but on Sunday, as he wrapped up a peace summit in Switzerland, Volodymyr Zelensky said that he would be open for talks if Russia pulls its forces out of occupied Ukraine.

“Russia can start the negotiations with us tomorrow, not waiting for anything,” he said.

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