Ukraine got only 10% of pledged weapons: Deputy Defense Minister
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar accuses the West of only sending 10% of the needed weapons to "win against Russia," calling on international partners to "speed their pace."
-
Ukraine Deputy Defense Minister: We got only 10% of the required weapons.
On Tuesday, Ukraine said its forces were still at Sievierodonetsk after Russia destroyed the city's last bridge.
The Ukrainian defenders were fighting off the Russians in a battle that had seen ground change hands several times in recent weeks.
"Russian troops are trying to storm the city, but the military is holding firm, Sievierodonetsk's Ukrainian mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said. He described the situation as "very difficult".
Despite the fact that the last bridge over the Siverskyi Donets river had been destroyed, Stryuk said that evacuations were still being carried out "every minute when there is a lull and there is a possibility of transportation." "Every chance is taken."
"We don't have enough weapons" - Malyar
According to Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar, Ukraine has only received 10% of the arms it requires from its allies. "Without the help of our Western partners, we will not be able to win this war," she said. NATO-standard weapons, including advanced US rockets, have been promised by Western countries. However, deploying them takes time.
"What we don't have enough of are the weapons that really hit the range that we need to reduce the advantage of the Russian Federation's equipment," President Volodymyr Zelensky told an online press briefing on Tuesday.
"No matter how much effort Ukraine puts in, we will not be able to win the war without the help of the West. We only got 10 percent of the weapons that Ukraine said it needed," Malyar said in an interview on Ukrainian TV.
She called on international partners to speed up the pace and increase the volume of military supplies so that the "armed forces of Ukraine have enough weapons to fight the Russian occupation forces."
Read next: US, Germany to supply advanced weapons to Ukraine
The Ukrainian official stressed that her country "is now using all forces and capabilities to confront Russia, but the armament capabilities and the number of Russia's personnel are much higher."
She revealed that "the Ukrainian armed forces use about 6000 artillery shells every day, while the Russians spend ten times more on bombing."
Ukrainian officials urged the West to send more and better artillery, as well as tanks, drones, and other heavy weapons.
