Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines have been rationing their mortar shells as Russian troops outgun them with 10 times more artillery: report

Ukrainian service members near Bakhmut on March 24, 2023.

Aris Messinis/Getty Images

• The New Yorker profiled an infantry battalion as they defended Bakhmut with dwindling ammo.
• The Ukrainians were limited to just five mortar shells a day, a lieutenant colonel told the outlet.
• Meanwhile, Russians were outgunning them with an average of ten times more shells.

Ukrainian troops in the Donbas region were dramatically outgunned by Russian soldiers in the contested battle over Bakhmut.

Facing a dire ammunition shortage, The New Yorker reported from the trenches outside of Bakhmut in mid-March that the Ukrainians were being forced to ration their mortar shells — limiting them to just five per day, down from about 300 during earlier fighting in Kherson, when supplies were readily available.

Meanwhile, a Ukrianian lieutenant colonel known as Pavlo told the outlet, the Russian military used approximately ten times that rate. 

The scarcity at the battle's front lines paints a dire image of conditions for the weary infantry soldiers as Ukraine prepares for a spring counteroffensive.

The infantry brigade profiled in the piece was crucial in preventing Russian troops from completely taking over Bakhmut in the past several weeks, allowing the area's southern road to be "used to reinforce and resupply Ukrainian units in the city," pointed out Rob Lee, a US expert on Russia's military and a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

Russia claims it has fully overtaken the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denies that Russia has full control over the city at the front lines of the invasion.

Russian troops and the for-hire soldiers from the Wagner Group have also reported ammunition and supply shortages.

Representatives for Ukraine's Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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