- Russia is firing 10 times more artillery than Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
- Russia also has 30 times more aircraft, he said, in a worrying sign for the country.
- Ukraine is suffering critical shortages with US aid stalled, and has warned it may need to retreat.
Ukraine's president said that Russia is now firing 10 times more artillery shells than his country is able to, and has 30 times more aircraft, in a worrying sign for Ukraine's ability to sustain its military efforts.
"You need to be much stronger than your enemy. Today, our artillery shell ratio is 1-10. Can we hold our ground? No," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told PBS this week. "With these statistics, they will be pushing us back every day," he added.
Zelenskyy also said that Russian aircraft outnumber Ukraine's by 30:1. "How can you wage a war against Russia like this?"
He added that unless aid from the US resumes, "we will have no chance of winning."
The US is the single biggest donor to Ukraine, but billions in further aid to Ukraine is stalled in Congress. Republicans have pushed back against giving more, even though much of the money would go back into the US economy, via US defense manufacturers.
Zelenskyy made it clear that it was ammo that his country needed the most.
"We're not asking for missiles for 2,000 or 3,000 kilometers, nothing like that," he said. "And nobody is asking for 500 aircraft or 300, like Russia."
Ukraine is suffering from a critical shortage of ammunition and weaponry that soldiers and experts say is having a major impact on the battlefield.
While many European countries have increased their help for Ukraine, and total aid from EU countries has been higher than that of the US, it is still not enough to make up the deficit from stalled US support.
Many European countries have also warned that they don't have enough supplies in their arsenals to give Ukraine and that not enough new munitions are being produced to resolve this.
Soldiers in Ukraine have told BI that shortages mean they have to ration ammunition and not go after some of the same types of targets they would earlier in the war.
One American veteran, now a sniper in Ukraine, urged more US support.
"Ukraine has already defied the odds and beat the expectations within the first couple of months of the invasion. They've shown what they're capable of with limited resources," Jonathan Poquette said.
"How much more do they need to prove? Don't tie one of their hands behind their back. Support Ukraine, help us win this war," he added.
Ukraine is producing more of its own ammunition and weaponry, to make it less reliant on its allies, but Russia is also doing the same, and has a much larger population and more resources available.
Zelenskyy warned in March that Ukraine would have to start retreating if no new aid came from Congress.
"We are trying to find some way not to retreat," he said at the time.
The White House has been critical of Republicans blocking further aid, and has already attributed one major Russian victory to Ukrainian shortages.
Ukraine withdrew from the eastern town of Avdiivka in February after months of grueling fighting. The White House said Kyiv's troops were forced to withdraw due to a shortage of ammunition and supplies — which is said was a direct result of "congressional inaction."
