On 26 October, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on X/Twitter that so far, the European Union supplied Ukraine with only 300,000 artillery shells out of the promised 1,000,000. Meanwhile, according to him, North Korea has handed over 350,000 rounds to Russia.
The EU promised Ukraine 1,000,000 artillery rounds. So far, we have delivered only 300,000. Meanwhile, North Korea delivered 350,000 to Russia.
— Gabrielius Landsbergis???????? (@GLandsbergis) October 26, 2023
We surely have the resources to outperform North Korea.
We should stop being frozen in the headlights while brave Ukrainians die.
Ukraine Strategic Industries Minister Oleksandr Kamyshyn noted that although Ukraine ramped up the production of artillery ammunition, Kyiv still relies heavily on supplies of shells from partners. At the same time, Ukraine has been boosting production of combat drones, aiming to manufacture “dozens of thousands a month” by the year-end, according to him.
Meanwhile, according to Admiral Robert Bauer, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, NATO urged its member states to “curb protectionism” and agree on a standard for artillery ammunition to increase production.
Earlier, Bloomberg wrote that the EU was falling behind on plans to provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells by March 2024.
Col. Ants Kiviselg, head of Estonia’s military intelligence service, told The New York Times that Russia still had some 4,000,000 artillery shells, enough to continue low-intensity warfare for another year.
EU ammo production act
In March 2023, the European Union approved a two-billion-euro plan to provide Ukraine with ammunition, which includes the purchase of 1 million shells by the end of the year.
In May, European parliamentarians overwhelmingly backed a move to speed up legislation to boost the manufacture of 1 million rounds of ammunition for Ukraine.
In June, the European Parliament adopted the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP), a legislative proposal coming from the European Commission that contains measures to urgently increase the ability of the EU defense industry to supply ground-to-ground ammunition, artillery shells, and missiles.
In September, Seven EU countries ordered ammunition under a landmark EU procurement scheme to get urgently needed artillery shells to Ukraine and replenish depleted Western stocks.
North Korea’s ammo supplies to Russia
British intel: North Korea on course to become Russia’s major arms supplier alongside Iran, Belarus
As Russia has been denying the artillery ammunition supplies from from the DNRK, North Korean ammunition exports to Russia were previously highlighted by various sources, including the US, South Korean, and Ukrainian officials.
- Earlier, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stated the US had intelligence that North Korea had recently shipped Russia over 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to be used in its war against Ukraine.
- Satellite imagery captured on 5 October and analyzed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies indicated the flow of rail traffic between North Korea and Russia.
- Earlier, referring to US intelligence sources, the Economist reported that North Korea had supplied Russia with 152-mm shells and missiles for multiple rocket launchers for about a year.
- In September, an unnamed South Korean senior presidential official and the Ukrainian military intelligence chief confirmed that Russian forces already used North Korean-supplied ammunition in Ukraine.
- In December 2022, John Kirby stated that the Wagner Group Russian private military company took delivery of an arms shipment from North Korea to help bolster Russian forces in Ukraine.