Russian artillery under strain: Impact of Ukrainian strikes
In October, the intensity of artillery shelling conducted by the Russians in Ukraine dropped significantly. Analysts from the Defence Express portal referred to precise data, which, in their opinion, clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of recent attacks on Russian ammunition depots.
"The destruction of several large ammunition depots of the Russian Federation by Ukraine using drones achieved better results in two weeks than all the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation two years ago," stated the Defence Express analysis.
Significant damage to Russian ammunition depots
The turn of September and October shook Russia quite literally. The Ukrainians carried out several successful strikes, including noteworthy explosions in the Tikhoretsk region of Krasnodar Krai and the city of Toropets in the Tver region. These were so powerful that tremors measuring 2.8 on the Richter scale were recorded in the vicinity.
The Russians lost vast amounts of various types of ammunition. The depot in Toropets was a storage site for rockets such as Grad, S-300, and S-400, and even ballistic missiles. After the attack, Ukrainian intelligence reported that Iskander ballistic missiles and North Korean KN-23s were stored there. These are highly dangerous weapons with a range of several hundred miles. Both types of missiles mentioned have similar performance and dimensions, each measuring over 23 feet in length and approximately 3 feet in diameter.
The Russians are starting to run out of ammunition
Referring to publicly available data and reports (including one shared by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi), Defence Express observed a marked decrease in the use of artillery ammunition by the Russians.
In July-August 2024, their advantage over the Ukrainian shelling was 3 to 1. This meant that Russian soldiers used about 45,000 shells daily. Currently, the average is about 30,000 shells daily. This is still twice as much as the Ukrainians (about 15,000 shells daily), but significantly less than just a few weeks ago.
Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Gen. Ivan Havryluk, also believes that these statistics and the improvement in the situation were achieved through the attacks on Russian ammunition depots. Artillery has been the main driving force of the Russian offensive since the beginning of the war. The Ukrainians have repeatedly appealed to the West for greater deliveries of ammunition, but they often received it too late and generally much less than needed. In early September, Russian pro-war bloggers began to speak loudly about "shell hunger" for the first time.
