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| Photo Credit: Reuters |
Officials in Ukraine have admitted that the country is fast running out of weapons to stop the invading Russian forces from encircling the country especially in the east of the country. Officials are appealing to the US and other western allies to up the game and provide the much needed long range artillery for a counter offensive against Russian forces.
Ukrainian president has long said that long range missiles would be a game changer in the more than 3 months conflict. The Biden administration several days ago promised to supply the country with long range missiles, saying its action is predicated on assurances from the Ukrainian authorities that the weapons will not be used to attack Russian territories, drawing angry reaction from the Kremlin.
Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lafrov said the longer the range of the artillery the more targets his country would strike deep inside Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he has spoken
to his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau to discuss the future deliveries of
heavy weapons to Ukraine.
In a tweet Kuleba said that they also spoke about future
sanctions by the EU against Russia.
“I had a call with my Polish counterpart and friend this
morning to discuss next deliveries of heavy weapons to Ukraine and the seventh
EU sanctions package on Russia. I also conveyed my support to his important
efforts as Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE,”
Vitaly Kim, the governor of the Mykolaiv region on the
southern frontline, said the fighting had become a "war of artillery",
according to a report by the BBC. He added that the Russian army was much more
powerful, while Ukraine's troops were running low on shells, the BBC quoted AFP
news agency.
Mr Kim appealed to Western allies to speed up their delivery
of long range weapons and ammunition to help his country fight back.
"The help of Europe and America is very, very
important," Kim said.
Ukraine's deputy head of military intelligence, Vadym
Skibitsky, made similar comments in an interview with Britain's Guardian
newspaper on Friday, BBC reports.
Ukraine admitted that up to 10,000 of its soldiers have died
in the war since Russia’s invasion began at the end of February.
The figures were given by Presidential adviser Oleksiy
Arestovych in a social media interview, when asked how many troops Ukraine had
lost in the first 100 days of the war – that is, up to 3 June.
The adviser stressed that about 100 Ukrainian soldiers die
on the battle front each day, leaving several hundred wounded due in part to
heavy artillery bombardment from Russia.
He said Russia’s losses were several times greater even
though Russia disputes the figures saying a little above 1000 are dead. The
Ukrainian government says more than 30,000 Russian troops have died. The
estimate by UK intelligence is lower – more than 15,000, according to the BBC.
In March Russian authorities admitted that it had lost about
1,351 soldiers and officers.
Russian forces began invading Ukraine on the 24th of February after massing its forces on the Ukrainian border for several weeks denying it had no plans to invade the country. The prices of food items have soared following the blockade by Russian forces of the port city of Mariupol.
Ukraine, a top wheat producer has suffered tremendously from its inability to
sustain supply chains owing to the war. The UN has warned of a food crisis if
nothing is done to end the war. Ukrainian forces have been particularly
effective and successful in holding back territories from the invading Russian
soldiers due in part to weapons pouring in from the west.