Ukraine Denied Weapons From NATO Ally as Ammo Runs Out

Ukraine received crushing news about military aid from a NATO ally on the same day that one of Kyiv’s top officials warned that troops were running out of ammunition.

On Thursday, lawmakers in the German Bundestag voted down a motion to provide Ukraine with Taurus missiles to aid in its ongoing war with invading Russian forces, dashing Ukrainian hopes of receiving more long-range weapons.

The motion was defeated over concerns that Ukraine would use the missiles to strike targets inside Russia, potentially provoking Moscow to expand the war to include Germany and the NATO alliance, according to German state media outlet DW.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umierov warned on Thursday that Kyiv was in dire need of artillery ammunition, saying that “Russia vastly outnumbers [Ukraine] in daily artillery attacks” and fires “five to 10 times more artillery shells.”

“Ammunition shortage and ammunition starvation is an extremely urgent problem facing our Armed Forces,” Umierov said. “We need to find a way to solve this problem together.”

Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi told Reuters last month that the military was “replanning” its strategy due to artillery shell shortages seen “across the entire front line.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who strongly opposed sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, said earlier this week that Germany would be committing €7 billion, or approximately $7.6 billion, in military aid to Ukraine this year.

The German government announced on Wednesday that Ukraine had received a shipment of aid that included items like ammunition for Leopard battle tanks and reconnaissance drones, but no missiles or artillery ammunition.

Ukraine has received some longer-range weapons. France and the U.K. continue to provide SCALP and Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which have a range of up to 300 miles.

Last year, the U.S. sent Kyiv ATACMS missiles, which are normally capable of traveling up to 180 miles. However, the missiles sent were modified to only travel up to 100 miles, according to the Associated Press.

What was once a steady stream of military aid from Western allies to Ukraine has recently slowed to a trickle. A European Union aid package of around $54 billion was vetoed last month by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A U.S. aid package for Ukraine worth more than $60 billion, requested by President Joe Biden, remains on hold amid a partisan dispute over U.S.-Mexico border security in Congress.