Ukrainian strikes on Russian military storage sites have resulted in Russian forces suffering an ammunition shortage that's "significantly reduced" their ability to mount attacks, according to a Ukrainian official.
Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine's southern operational command, shared the assessment during a Thursday briefing with the Media Center Ukraine-Ukrinform.
Humeniuk's comments followed high-profile Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian ammunition storage sites in July. This includes an attack on an ammunition depot in Crimea on July 22 that forced evacuations of homes in the area, as well as a July 4 drone bombing of a depot close to the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Makiivka. Video of the massive explosions triggered by the Makiivka strike spread across social media and garnered international news coverage.
"Persistent fire on ammunition supply storage points makes the enemy feel shell hunger," Humeniuk said at the Thursday briefing, according to a translation by news outlet Ukrainska Pravda. "The number of attacks from the enemy is significantly reduced."
Humeniuk also reported on more recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian storage facilities.
"Thanks to the persistent work last week, we destroyed seven field storage points that the enemy deployed on the left bank [of the Dnieper River]," she said.
Kyiv has previously stated its intentions of targeting Russian warehouses as part of its ongoing counteroffensive in the 17-month-old war.
Hanna Maliar, Ukraine's deputy defense minister, reported on Telegram in early July that her country's forces had destroyed six ammunition depots on the eastern front over the course of 24 hours.
"We see everything," Maliar wrote. "This is our answer to the frontal assaults of the enemy. We inflict effective, painful point blows, bleed the occupier, for whom the lack of ammunition and fuel will sooner or later become fatal. In modern warfare, logistical objectives are key."
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense via email for comment.
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense (MoD) this week wrote in an intelligence update that shortages of artillery ammunition have become a common issue for Russian commanders leading forces in southern parts of Ukraine.
The Russian army in the region is also "highly likely struggling with battle fatigue and attrition in forward deployed regiments which have been in intense combat for over eight weeks," the update said.
