Speech by the President of Ukraine in the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. April 11, 2022.
In Foreign Policy, Oz Katerji visits the front lines of the battle between Ukraine and Russia, where Ukrainian commanders tell him they have plenty of men but not enough guns and ammo. Katerji writes:
I asked Vladislav if there was anything besides shells that he needed, and he stressed that the issue was not just about ammunition, but also equipment.
“I need new artillery,” he said. With most of their howitzers built in the 1980s, his troops’ equipment is under increasing strain and in need of constant maintenance. But Vladislav insisted that his men do not need additional training to use newer, NATO-standard armored vehicles.
“If I drive an old Lada, it’s easy for me to then drive a Mercedes,” he said with a smile.
It is not, at least, all bad news for this particular unit, though.
“We have 100 percent of our personnel needs met,” said Vladislav. “I have too many men and not enough artillery pieces for them.” He told me that he has enough spare crew to man three more cannons, but he lacks the cannons to man.
The men also remained in high spirits. Those that I spoke to said that their morale and will to fight was still strong, but the situation had clearly been taking its toll on them.
Oleh, the driver of his unit’s worse-for-wear looking 2S1 Gvozdika—a Soviet-made, self-propelled Howitzer—told me that the recent weeks had been unbearably tense, but that he and the unit remained strong. “If we were provided with shells, we would be prepared for offensives, but we don’t have them,” he said. “The only thing we are thinking about is saving shells.”
“Our main target is enemy infantry,” said Serhii, another soldier. Without ammunition, the Ukrainian soldiers no longer have any ability to operate counter-battery fire in this part of the front line, leaving their positions totally at the mercy of Russian artillery. “We shell their infantry only to prevent them from advancing—we have no shells for anything else,” he added.
The worst thing, they told me, aside from Russian shelling and drone attacks, was listening to their comrades being killed over the radio. “We listen to their suffering, and we feel useless,” said Oleh, a tank driver.
The men clearly have a Western audience in mind as they talk to me. Taras, the oldest of the men, told me that if he could speak to the U.S. politicians currently blocking military aid packages to Ukraine, he would ask them to come and see how critical the situation is.
“These politicians should come and fight alongside me” he said. “Then they will see for themselves.”
“If we don’t get the shells to push them back, they will come after you next” Serhii said.
Oleh followed up: “If we don’t fight them back, then NATO will be left to fight Russia.”
Read more here.
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