Russia using ‘50s-era artillery as its stock has been almost “completely depleted”
Russia has almost completely depleted its artillery stockpiles as it has been actively using old-style artillery for the last five months, former SBU Security Service officer Ivan Stupak told Newsweek on Nov. 23.
Stupak also advises the Ukrainian parliament’s national security, defense and intelligence committee.
Read also: Slowing arms supplies could force Ukraine into negotiations with Russia, Lithuania warns
"It's not just a cliché, it's not Ukrainian propaganda. It's really a big problem for the Russians. They are using this artillery because they have no other options. Not late-Soviet era, but mid-50s and mid-60s—D30 and the D20-type of towed artillery, with a maximum range of around 9 to 11 miles. It's a very short distance; it's nothing compared with the Archer from Sweden," he said, referring to the system donated to Ukraine by Stockholm which has a range of more than 30 miles.
Russian gunners proved more numerous and well-supplied than their Ukrainian enemies in the early stages of the conflict. But as Kyiv's arsenal has been bolstered by NATO partners, Russia's "god of war" has been somewhat muted.
Kyiv's claimed tally of Russian equipment losses demonstrates the enthusiasm with which Ukrainian artillery and drone teams have hunted Russian big guns, as well as multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) that perform a similar function at shorter ranges.
Read also: Russia carries out more than 150 air, artillery strikes over past 24 hours - General Staff
From September to November 2023, Ukraine says it has destroyed 2,272 artillery pieces, and another 167 MLRS. In the same period in 2022, the figure was 789 artillery pieces and 108 MLRS.
The Kremlin's problem is only becoming more pressing as advanced NATO munitions arrive in Ukraine. The summer-into-fall uptick in claimed destroyed Russian guns coincided with the arrival of cluster munitions, which spread hundreds of bomblets over a target area rather than relying on a single shell.
Now, HIMARS-fired cluster munition variants of the long-range MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System—known as the ATACMS—are also in Ukrainian hands. Ukraine's gunners have been assisted by increasingly sophisticated counter-battery radars, used to quickly locate firing Russian guns.
Ukrainians now have "fire superiority" over the Russians, as well as more advanced and effective weapons systems, Dan Rice, a former aide to Ukraine's commander-in-chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, told Newsweek.
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