Russian forces confront 'shell hunger' as Ukrainian strikes take toll
As a result of numerous and often effective strikes by Ukrainians on Russian ammunition depots, Putin's army units are starting to experience a "shell hunger." This is a situation they have not faced until now.
According to the Ukrainian portal Defence Express, this type of information is being disseminated by, among others, the Russian pro-war blogger Jegor Guzenko. According to him, the Russian army began experiencing a shortage of ammunition after the Ukrainians destroyed large ammunition depots. This primarily concerns warehouses in the city of Toropets and in the vicinity of Tikhoretsk in Krasnodar Territory.
Russians complain about "shell hunger"
The attacks on both of these locations were carried out in September. Specialists from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggested, just a few days after the attacks, that the destruction of such large ammunition stocks would influence Russian actions in the near future. Military expert Yevhen Dykyi, in turn, stated outright that even temporary shortages of ammunition among Russian units fighting in Ukraine are not out of the question, and it looks like this grim scenario for the Russians is beginning to materialise.
Since the very beginning of the war in Ukraine, it was the Russians who had the capability for far more numerous bombardments. This primarily concerned artillery fire. While the Ukrainians were waiting for often delayed reinforcements from the West, the Russians had not only large ammunition supplies from their reserves but also reinforcements delivered from Iran and North Korea. Interestingly, North Korean missiles of various types were found in both Russian depots destroyed in September.
Ukrainians destroyed valuable Russian supplies
After the attack on the warehouses in the city of Toropets, the Ukrainian command reported that the Russians had stored not only artillery ammunition there but also missiles for the S-300 and S-400 systems, and even ballistic missiles. In the context of the latter, Russian Iskanders and North Korean KN-23s were mentioned.
Iskander (dedicated to the Iskander-M system) and KN-23 are short-range ballistic missiles, which in their case means the ability to attack targets located at approximately 500 kilometres and approximately 600 kilometres away, respectively. The KN-23 is approximately 9 metres long and approximately 1 metre in diameter, while the Iskander is slightly smaller, measuring just over 7 metres in length.
In the context of artillery ammunition, the Russians rely on 122mm and 152mm calibre shells. Ukrainians also use these in Soviet-era artillery systems, but for this type of weapon supplied by NATO, they need 155mm calibre shells.
