Russian forces face 'shell hunger' after Ukrainian strikes
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 Toropiec and in the vicinity of Tikhoretsk in the Krasnodar Territory.
Russians complain about "shell hunger"
The attacks on both of these locations were carried out in September. Just a few days after the attacks, specialists from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggested 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 materialize.
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 Toropiec, 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 latter context, 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 means they can attack targets located 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 the context of artillery ammunition, the Russians rely on 122 mm and 152 mm calibre shells. Ukrainians also used these in Soviet-era artillery systems, but for this type of weapon supplied by NATO, they needed 155 mm calibre shells.
