Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Saturday urged European countries to expedite the transfer of weapons to Ukraine amid concerns over whether Ukrainian troops have sufficient arms and ammunition to fend off an expected offensive by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine in the coming days.
Podolyak tweeted that weapons from Europe are taking “too long to arrive,” and that Ukraine needs those weapons “now.”
A US official told CNN there is growing concern over the prospect that Ukraine could lack ammunition to fight Russian troops, particularly artillery rounds, with heavy ground combat expected to take place in the coming days.
The official, who wasn’t named, said Ukrainian troops used “thousands of artillery rounds” a day during previous periods of heavy combat, and that the 40,000 artillery rounds the US is sending to Ukraine to go with 18 towed 155mm howitzers - could be depleted within days.
While Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, spoke highly of President Joe Biden for providing weapons to Ukraine, in an interview with the Atlantic published Friday, he expressed confusion about the slow arrival of weapons.
