Analyst says US military believes Ukraine is wasting ammunition, depleting West's reserves

According to RT, Washington Post commentator David Ignatius asserted that the Pentagon believes that Ukrainian commanders need to avoid wasting ammunition and change artillery tactics to only attack the most important targets.

In an article published over the weekend, Mr Ignatius said the US and its allies had become frustrated with Kiev for failing to achieve any significant results in its much-touted summer offensive, and were now conducting a review of the “lessons learned” from the campaign.

According to Ignatius, one of the main takeaways from Washington’s assessments is that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is unlikely to be resolved this year, as many in Kiev had hoped. Instead, the Pentagon believes the fighting could drag on into 2024, and possibly beyond, meaning Washington and its allies will have to continue supporting Kiev’s forces.

The Pentagon has reportedly urged Ukrainian commanders to prioritize targets and concentrate their forces on potential breakthrough points along the Russia-Ukraine front line.

US commanders are also reportedly concerned that Kiev is wasting artillery shells by replicating Soviet-era tactics. A US estimate cited by Ignatius suggests that Ukrainian forces have fired around 2 million 155mm shells since fighting began in February 2022, nearly depleting Western stocks.

Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that the United States was running short of materials, particularly TNT, as it tries to replenish its arsenal and continue supplying ammunition to Ukraine. The source said that increasing artillery shell production to 28,000 shells per month—the current target—would not be enough to satisfy “Ukraine’s incredible hunger for shells,” let alone replenish Washington’s depleted stockpiles.

Kiev’s tactical choices throughout the conflict have been repeatedly questioned by both Ukraine’s Western allies and Russia. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized Zelensky’s commanders, accusing them of turning their own soldiers into cannon fodder. He called their decision to send Ukrainian soldiers into Russian minefields under artillery fire “shocking,” and said Kiev was acting as if the soldiers were not even its citizens.