Ukraine War’s Big Question: Who Will Run Out of Missiles First?
Both Kyiv and Moscow are using artillery faster than their allies can make and ship new bombs. A Q&A with Kremlin-watcher Michael Kofman.
Boom.
Photographer: Anatoli Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images
“An army marches on its stomach,” said Napoleon. Or perhaps it was Frederick the Great. (Or my bet: neither.) In any case, the reference is to the importance keeping your forces well-provisioned, with food in particular, but also medical supplies, spare parts, communications equipment, weaponry and — most significantly at the moment — munitions.
Ukraine has displayed remarkable bravery, clever tactics and phenomenal leadership in fending off Russia. But let’s face it: Without Western-supplied arms, Kyiv would likely be a vassal to Moscow already. In the first six weeks of the war alone, according to congressional testimony of US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley, the West delivered 60,000 antitank weapons and 25,000 anti-aircraft weapons to the Ukrainians. By May, and a quarter of the Pentagon’s Stinger anti-aircraft missiles were gone. Exact figures are hard to come by — the new Republican House majority is calling for an audit — but even with stepped-up European help, the pace is unsustainable for a superpower facing a far greater threat across the Pacific.