Ukraine's military needs stand at 200K artillery rounds monthly to maintain edge – Estonia

The Ministry of Defense of Estonia published a 24-page document with an analysis of the fighting in Ukraine and proposals for defeating Russia. Among other observations, Tallinn notes that the Ukrainian military needs about 200,000 artillery shells to gain an advantage over the occupation forces.

The agency recalled that out of the promised million, European partners sent 300,000 155mm artillery shells to the Ukrainian army. In addition, the United States sent more than 2 million 155mm shells in addition to 1 million rounds of other calibers.

The Estonian military claims that the 155 mm artillery shells used by Ukraine are better than the Russian 152 mm as they have a higher rate of fire and better accuracy.

According to Estonia's estimates, the annual need for artillery ammunition to maintain Ukraine's local fire superiority over the Russian Federation should amount to 200,000 shells per month. That is, 2.4 million munitions per year, but this amount will deplete all of the European and American stockpiles as early as 2024.

On November 14, 2023, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the EU would not be able to supply Ukraine with 1 million artillery shells by the spring of 2024.

On November 17, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevičs said that the European Union should start purchasing ammunition for Ukraine from third countries, as it will not be able to deliver the promised 1 million shells by the spring of 2024.

EU countries will be able to produce about 480,000 shells by the spring of 2024 for Ukraine out of the promised million.