Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told how many shells Ukraine used last year.

Ukrainian forces used 3 million shells at the front in 2023

In 2023, Ukrainian forces at the front used 3 million shells. Half of them are of 155 mm caliber.

Colonel Serhiy Musiyenko, deputy commander of rocket troops and artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

According to him, the calculated need for artillery ammunition that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have is based on the situation at the front and planned tasks.

'This is a significant amount - we have never received this much before. Let's say: we receive twice as less artillery ammunition due to various factors. Therefore, we see the current situation in certain areas of the front in conditions of a shortage of certain nomenclature of artillery ammunition,' Musiyenko noted.

He said that the Soviet caliber - 152 mm - is currently being phased out.

'However, firstly, there is still production of these ammunition in the world. And there are quite modern artillery systems that are currently in operation in our troops using this caliber, and there are supplies of 152 mm shells. These are Czech self-propelled howitzers DANA-M2 and the 'Soviet' howitzer 'Msta-B',' added the colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to him, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, the Armed Forces of Ukraine used 152 mm and 122 mm cannons at the front. And already starting from the middle of 2022, the Ukrainian military began to receive 155 mm and 105 mm howitzers provided by partners.

'For example, we first began using 155 mm howitzers M777A2 in the Izyum direction (it was the 67th separate artillery division of the 406th separate artillery brigade). Subsequently, during the counter-offensive actions in the Kharkiv direction, several units armed with 155 mm guns were already present,' Musiyenko said.

He added that in 2022, the Defense Forces used about 1.5 million artillery ammunition - ranging from 120 mm mines to reactive shells for MLRS. Half of them were of 152 mm and 122 mm caliber. A third were 155 mm rounds.

'Already in 2023, we spent over 3 million shells. Of these, 1.6-1.7 million were 155 mm ammunition. So half of the ammunition we used was 155 mm,' noted the colonel.

According to him, in 2024 the ratio of 152 mm to 155 mm is 1 to 10, respectively.

'At the same Time, with the 'NATO' caliber, there are also 105 mm guns, which have also proven themselves very well. In the future, the 155 mm caliber will replace the 152 mm guns, but currently, we cannot do this quickly,' Musiyenko said.

He clarified that currently, the Armed Forces of Ukraine use the most shells of 155 mm caliber.

'Next are 122 mm, followed by 105 mm, and significantly behind is 152 mm,' added the colonel.