The Pentagon thinks Russia is in an ammunition dilemma.
NATO itself is said to have problems supplying Ukraine with weapons.
The onset of winter exacerbates the situation.
Munich/Moscow/Washington - Who gets through the winter and how?
In the Ukraine war, this question also arises for the two armies, some of which have dug themselves into deep trenches in the east and south-east of the country.
And who, as
ZDF
's "heute journal" reports about the Ukrainian side, have set up so-called retreat positions behind the front lines.
War in Ukraine: Apparently there are ammunition problems on the Russian and Ukrainian sides
As the ZDF further reports, the (more or less) targeted Russian bombardments on the critical infrastructure of the Ukraine between Lviv, Odessa, Kyiv and Kharkiv are hitting hard.
So much so that Kiev's Mayor Vitali Klitschko recently even warned of the harshest winter since the end of the Second World War.
Conversely, according to Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Havrjlov, the recapture of the Crimean peninsula by the Ukrainian armed forces is "only a matter of time".
That's what Havrjlov said in an interview with Sky News.
It is precisely in this critical starting position that there are probably concerns about the question of sufficient ammunition - on the Russian and Ukrainian sides.
"The United States is wondering if Russia has enough artillery to continue its war in Ukraine," writes the US foreign policy magazine
Foreign Policy
in a recent Nov. 23 analysis.
In the video: Compact - The most important news about the Russia-Ukraine war
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin claimed this Wednesday (November 23) that the Pentagon found that the Russian army was particularly short of artillery ammunition.
According to the report, the Kremlin in Moscow has therefore intensified contacts with the regimes in Iran and North Korea in order to obtain ammunition via these channels.
Ukraine war: 'See they have a serious shortage of artillery ammunition'
This assessment cannot be independently verified.
"We see that they have a serious shortage of artillery ammunition and are turning to Iran and North Korea for help from them," Austin told reporters aboard an E-4B plane that flew after a five-day trip across Canada and Canada Southeast Asia flew back to the US.
I'm not sure if they have this type of ammo.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Russian Army
Ukraine war: US doubts Russia's ammunition stocks
"This type of operation requires a lot of ammunition," explained the four-star retired general. "I'm not sure if they have this type of ammunition to be able to do that in the future." Austin pointed to targeted ones Attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russian ammunition depots in summer and autumn.
"It didn't have an immediate impact, but over time, weeks, you saw the Russians start to struggle a little with the amount of ammo they had available," Austin said, according to
Foreign Policy
.
Does the Russian army lack ammunition?
Moscow denies reports from the US
Moscow denied identical reports from the West.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a close confidant of Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin, made a demonstrative visit to an armaments factory near the capital during the week.
According to Euronews
, he wrote on Telegram
that "Russia's enemies were waiting in vain" for the country's military capabilities to be exhausted.
The Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation said: "There are enough missiles!"
However, according to a number of reports, the following is certain: Western restrictions on the export of microchips are forcing Moscow to rely more heavily on drones manufactured in Iran.
Semiconductors are needed to manufacture weapons - but Russia can no longer import them.
The US news agency
Bloomberg
writes that Moscow is therefore importing massive amounts of household appliances such as washing machines and breast pumps from the friendly states of Kazakhstan and Armenia.
In the video: Massive Russian bombardments - Ukraine is feverishly repairing its electricity grid
However, there are apparently also ammunition problems on the part of the defenders.
As
Foreign Policy
also recently wrote in an analysis, the transatlantic defense alliance NATO is running out of ammunition in support of Ukraine.
Countermeasures have been initiated.
The US magazine relies on an unnamed insider from the environment of the military alliance.
The partners therefore do not want to take any risks.
Ammunition and weapons: NATO apparently has problems supplying Ukraine
According to the report, the alliance's obligations are suffering because its own ammunition stocks no longer meet the requirements.
The source also said the allies had urged western defense companies to ramp up arms production.
(pm)
