THE ARTILLERY APPLICATION BY THE DEFENSE FORCES OF UKRAINE DURING THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

ASSESSMENTS, TRENDS, USE OF INTERNATIONAL MILITARY ASSISTANCE

Abstract

Artillery continues to play a key role in the rusian-Ukrainian war, remaining the main tool for enemy`s personnel and equipment destruction. The use of new technologies, in particular, unmanned aerial vehicles, significantly affected the tactics of artillery application by the opposing sides.
At the beginning of the full-scale russian aggression, the Ukrainian Defense Forces used mainly Soviet weapons, however, the loss of artillery systems, their failure due to intensive operation, and the shortage of Soviet-style ammunition made the issue of obtaining both new artillery systems and ammunition from partner states extremely relevant, in particular, shells of the most common NATO 155 mm caliber and long-range missiles. New artillery systems have proven themselves to be the best, however, in the process of their operation, some organizational and technical problems have emerged that need to be solved.
European Union countries agreed to a 2 billion euro plan to send 1 million artillery rounds to Ukraine over the next year, but this plan met some obstacles. It is concluded that the success of efforts of the Defense Forces of Ukraine in repelling russian aggression and liberating the temporarily occupied territories depends on solving obvious problematic issues and ensuring a stable supply of artillery systems and ammunition from partner states.