A new weaponry wish list, claimed to be sufficient to “throw Russia out of Ukraine,” was unveiled on Monday by Mikhail Podolyak, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky. The new call has effectively pushed Ukraine’s demand for Western-made weapons to the limit, with even the US at risk of running out, multiple media outlets have suggested.
The demand includes 1,000 NATO-standard 155mm howitzers, 300 multiple-launch rocket systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, and 1,000 drones. It is unclear what types of drones and armored vehicles Kiev needs to repel the ongoing Russian offensive that began in late February.
Fulfilling the demands would effectively require the US – the top supplier of weapons to Ukrainian troops over the course of the conflict – to disarm its own military, multiple Western media outlets pointed out.
The number of MLRS systems requested, for instance, amounts to roughly half of Washington’s remaining stock of such weapons, The Guardian reported, citing figures from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The US Army has some 363 HIMARS wheeled rocket artillery pieces and 225 M270 MLRS tracked launchers, while the US Marines have a further 47.