Jonathan Pockett, an American sniper who volunteers for the Ukrainian army, says that Kyiv forces lack even basic ammunition, such as bullets and grenades, which they desperately need, Business Insider reports.

Puckett told BI that the shortage of ammunition means Ukrainian soldiers have had to become more selective about the targets they choose, and sometimes have to avoid engaging Russian advancing forces.

“In the West, you see a lot of talk about, ‘oh yeah, they’re giving away these cars, these cars, these cars.’ But really, to a certain extent, it is, bro, I don’t give a damn about vehicles. Give me bullets, give me mortars, give me artillery, give me something that allows individual soldiers to fight and kill Russians.”

BI notes that American veteran Puckett fought in Ukraine as part of the “Chosen Company” – international forces assigned to the 59th Motorized Brigade. This unit is officially designated as a reconnaissance unit, but is often used in assault or even defensive missions.

The sniper, who was wounded in action in late January, says the shortage of basic weapons and equipment must be addressed before the delivery of weapons systems that can be used in offensive operations.

“Ammunition, grenades, anti-personnel mines and other types of mines, missiles, different missile systems are important now,” says Puckett.

“What can one tank do? No more than 50,000 artillery shells, 5,000 mortar shells,” he adds.

He reported that in some situations the Ukrainian military, who occupied his positions, demanded ammunition and grenades from him. “It was getting so desperate that right before we left, we had to take all our cartridges, take all the bullets out of them, and then put our empty cartridges back in the kit, and then take all our grenades, and it was like ” Look, guys.” they are needed'”.

Zelensky again asked for help from Washington in an interview with American media

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi spoke about the shortcomings of his forces in an interview with American media over the weekend, saying that although the Ukrainian army “managed to stabilize” the situation, it was stuck in its current positions due to a lack of weapons.

He also said that Ukraine has lost six months on the front lines due to the impasse in the US Congress over funding for his country, and that Ukrainian forces will be forced to retreat “in small steps” if Washington continues to delay sending military aid.

The lack of ammunition, he said, means that “you have to settle for less. as? Of course, come back. Make the front line shorter. If it breaks, the Russians could reach big cities.”

The new military aid package proposed by the White House for Ukraine was stalled in Congress for almost six months due to opposition from Republicans.

Although the package was finally approved by the Senate, Washington’s upper house of the legislature, it remains blocked by the House of Representatives as its Speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, refuses to hold a vote on the bill.

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