Soldiers on the front lines in eastern Ukraine are hopeful that they have stalled Russia’s constant bombardment and credit sophisticated Western weaponry.
In Donetsk, the commander of a Ukrainian artillery unit who asked to be known only by his first name, Dmitro, was convinced “They’re not firing as often. The rate of artillery fire [from Russian forces] has dropped by half. Maybe even more, maybe by two-thirds,” he said, patting the side of a large green vehicle beside him, a ‘self-propelled artillery piece’ called a Caesar.
“We’re much more accurate now. And we can hit them much further away,” said Dmitro, as the Cesar took aim at a Russian unit miles away.
“Listen to that silence,” said Yuri Bereza, a bearded 52-year-old commanding a volunteer unit tasked with defending Slovyansk.
“That’s all because of the artillery you’ve given us – because of its accuracy,” said Bereza. “Before, Russia had 50 gun barrels for every one we had. Now it’s more like five to one. Their advantage is now insignificant. You could call it parity.”
But both men quickly emphasized the need for more weapons to continue the fight:
“They can’t beat us, and we can’t beat them here. We need more equipment, especially armour, tanks, aviation. Without these things there will be enormous loss of life. That’s the way Russia is used to waging war. They throw lives away,” said Bereza.
“Ideally, we’d like three times as many [Western weapons] as they’ve already sent us. And quickly,” confirmed Dmitro.
Experts caution that even with more weapons, the Ukrainians are losing instructors to teach their army how to use some of the sophisticated weaponry.