Ukraine's defense minister says ammunition shortage prevents Kyiv from victory
Rustem Umerov calls 'shell starvation' one of main problems of Ukraine's armed forces
A serviceman belonging to Battalion 42 of Brigade 57 of the Ukrainian army loads an ammunition belt for a machine gun during training at a shooting range in an undisclosed location in Donbas, Donetsk, Ukraine on September 20, 2023.
MOSCOW
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said Thursday that an ammunition shortage is preventing Kyiv from winning on the battlefield.
“The shortage of ammunition and shell starvation is a very urgent problem that our armed forces are currently facing," Umerov said at the opening of a conference in Paris on the creation of an artillery coalition led by France and the US
Umerov, who spoke via video link, asked Western partners to help Kyiv solve the problem and he called the strengthening of the artillery -- potentially one of the key needs of Ukraine’s troops.
He was supposed to personally attend the conference in the French capital but his visit was canceled "for security reasons."
The Defense Ministry said the trip was postponed "the day before the minister took part in a meeting of the supreme commander's headquarters."
A new date for the visit is being worked out, it added.
