Russia produces three times as many artillery shells as the US and Europe for Ukraine - CNN
Kyiv • UNN
Russia produces about 3 million artillery shells a year, which is almost three times more than the 1.2 million shells produced by the United States and Europe for Ukraine.
Russia produces almost three times as much artillery ammunition per year as the United States and Europe for Ukraine, which is an advantage for the Russian army before the next offensive on the front, which is expected later this year, CNN reports, UNN.
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According to NATO intelligence estimates, Russia's defense industry reportedly produces about 250,000 artillery rounds per month, or about 3 million per year.
In turn, the United States and Europe together can produce only about 1.2 million rounds of ammunition a year to send to Kyiv, a senior European intelligence official told CNN.
The U.S. military has set a goal of producing 100,000 artillery shells per month by the end of 2025 - less than half of Russia's monthly production - but even that figure is now out of reach due to a delayed vote in the U.S. Congress on aid to Ukraine.
According to officials, Russia is currently firing about 10,000 shells a day, while the Ukrainian side is producing only 2,000 shells a day. According to a European intelligence official, the ratio is even worse in some places along the front.
As a NATO official told CNN, Russia is working "24 hours a day, 7 days a week" at artillery factories, with 12-hour shifts. About 3.5 million Russians are now employed in the defense sector, compared to 2 to 2.5 million before the war. russia also imports ammunition: Iran shipped at least 300,000 artillery shells last year, and North Korea delivered at least 6,700 containers with millions of shells.
According to the US official, the approximate equivalent in the US would be President Joe Biden's use of the Defense Production Act, which gives the president the right to order companies to accelerate the production of equipment to support national defense.
According to U.S. and Western officials, Russia's production buildup is still insufficient to meet its needs, and Western intelligence officials do not expect Russia to make significant gains on the battlefield in the short term. In addition, according to officials, there is a limit to Russian production capacity: Russian factories are likely to peak next year.
