An American sniper fighting on the side of Ukraine offers a grim picture of the situation on the front

Jonathan Poquette, an American sniper who fights as a volunteer in the Ukrainian army, says that Kiev’s forces lack even basic ammunition such as bullets and grenades that they desperately need, reports Business Insider.

Pouqette told BI that ammunition shortages mean Ukrainian soldiers have had to become much more selective about the targets they choose and sometimes have to avoid engaging advancing Russian troops.

“In the West you see a lot of talk about ‘oh yes, they are donating these vehicles, those vehicles, these vehicles.’ But actually, to a certain extent, it’s like, bro, I don’t give a damn about vehicles. Give me bullets, give me mortars, give me artillery, give me the things that allow individual soldiers to fight and kill Russians.”

BI states that Pouqette, an American veteran, was fighting in Ukraine as part of the “Chosen Company” – an international force 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 combat in late January, says shortages in basic weapons and equipment must be addressed before deliveries of weapons systems that can be used in offensive operations.

“What matters now is the munitions, the grenades, the anti-personnel mines and other types of mines, the missiles, the different missile systems,” says Poquette.

“What can one tank do? Not as many as 50,000 artillery shells, 5,000 mortar shells,” he adds.

He reported that in some situations the Ukrainian soldiers taking over his position demanded his ammunition and grenades. “It was getting so desperate that right before we left we’d have 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’s like ‘Look , you guys need them’”.

Zelenski again asked for Washington’s help in an interview with American media

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy 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 is stuck in its current positions due to a lack of weapons.

He also said that Ukraine has lost 6 months on the front line due to the deadlock in the US Congress on funding for his country, and that Ukrainian troops will be forced to withdraw in “small steps” if Washington continues to delay sending military aid.

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

A new military aid package proposed by the White House for Ukraine has been stalled in Congress for nearly half a year due to Republican opposition.

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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