Ukraine has appealed to the EU to send Kyiv 250,000 artillery shells a month to ease a critical shortage that it warns is limiting its progress on the battlefield, according to Financial Times.

In a letter to his counterparts in the 27 member states on Friday, obtained by the Financial Times, Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov writes that his country’s forces are only firing a fifth of the rounds they could because of lack of supplies.

The request far exceeds the help the EU is discussing sending, underlining the size of the task facing Kyiv as its war with Russia enters a second year.

Ukrainian forces were on Friday reported to be withdrawing from the city of Bakhmut, which has become the focal point of both Kyiv’s resistance and Moscow’s drive to regain momentum — marking Russia’s first big success in its fresh offensive.

Reznikov writes that artillery plays a “crucial role in eliminating the enemy’s military power”. On average Ukraine was firing 110,000 155mm-calibre shells a month, he says — a quarter of the amount used by Russia.

SOURCE: AZERBAIJAN STATE NEWS AGENCY