Ukraine is relying on unused artillery shells left behind by Russian troops as it faces a munition shortage and further aid from the West remains in limbo.
Soldiers like Max Polyukhovich scour through Ukraine’s eastern front, searching for undetonated mines and artillery shells that will be repurposed for Ukraine’s dwindling munition supply, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Polyukhovich — known by other troops as “Mad Max” — told the newspaper that he estimates supplying brigades with at least 14,000 shells and 4,000 munitions for aerial drones.
As the war in Ukraine rages on, officials and war analysts have warned that Ukraine is facing a munitions shortage while Russian manufacturers pump out up to seven times as much ammunition as Western arms makers. The Journal reported that Ukrainian commanders estimate Russia firing around five times as many shells as Ukraine.
“When Russian troops advance, and its guns fire, Ukraine does not have enough ammunition to fire back,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a White House press briefing in March. “That’s costing terrain. It’s costing lives. And it’s costing us, the United States and the NATO alliance, strategically.”
As Republicans hold up US funding for Ukraine, Ukrainian forces on the battlefield are hoping to rely on military personnel like Polyukhovich to find more artillery shells or undetonated land mines that can be repurposed for artillery, The Journal reported.
Polyukhovich told The Journal that he would scavenge swamps in areas where Russian troops retreated or search every home in villages.
With undetonated antitank mines, Polyukhoich extracts the powder inside the explosive and repurposes it into a bomb that will be dropped by a drone, according to The Journal.
Officers from the 92nd Assault Brigade told the publication that Polyukhovich alone has provided their unit with more than 8,000 shells.
Other brigades are also sending de-miners to Polyukhovich so that they can be trained to learn how he finds more ammunition, according to The Journal.
But even with Polyukhovich, Ukrainian troops constantly need more munitions, The Journal reported.
“If I send 100 rounds, they call the next day asking for more ammo,” Polyukhovich told the newspaper.
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.
