According to the Ukrainian state news agency reported on April 7, in an interview with German Television One (ARD), the head of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General Budanov, said that the current situation on the front line is "difficult but still under control", and he expects the Russian army to launch another large-scale offensive at the end of May, and believes that the direction of the offensive will be Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, but does not rule out the possibility that the Russian army will continue to advance towards Chasiv Yar. The Ukrainian army may launch another counteroffensive this year, but Budanov is reluctant to disclose more information, because this is the work of the General Staff of the Ukrainian army.
The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andrei Yermak, also revealed similar information in an interview with Politico on April 5, saying that the Russian army may launch another large-scale offensive in late May or early June, but the target is likely to be Kharkiv, and the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, General Syrsky, said that trying to quickly capture Kharkiv could be "fatal" for the Russian army, the city is constantly being bombed by the Russian army, but it is another matter to occupy it from the ground.
In addition, Budanov also said that the Ukrainian army now urgently needs "more artillery and ammunition", although in the Czech Republic, more than a dozen countries have jointly purchased millions of shells for Ukraine, but Budanov "does not feel" that these shells have appeared on the front line: the Ukrainian army's artillery shells can now support defense, but far from enough to support offensive operations.
Budanov stressed that the situation in Ukraine will be "catastrophically difficult" without sustained support, and he expects significant growth in the EU defense industry this year, believing that the EU will effectively fill the gap in US aid.
As the head of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service or the Ukrainian intelligence giant, we will not judge whether the information revealed by Budanov is true or false, or how true it is or how false it is. But for now, there is really no official information that the shells purchased by the Czech Republic and other countries for Ukraine have been delivered, and the Czech government has also said that if all goes well, the first shells will be shipped to Ukraine from this month.
In addition to the Czech Republic, Forbes News also reported on the lathe, and Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkul also officially announced that the country had found 1 million shells for Ukraine, and Hanno Pevkul also revealed that by the end of the year, the EU will actually be able to provide Ukraine with about 2.5 million shells.
However, as of now, we have not seen any signs of the "shell famine" of the Ukrainian army being alleviated, so much so that the Ukrainian army, while saving on shell consumption, has to find ways to find any possible ammunition.
The Wall Street Journal reported on 1 Ukrainian soldier Max Polikovich who called for "Mad Max", Max Polikovich, 36 years old, has been involved in extremely dangerous mine-sweeping operations since 2014, after the outbreak of full-scale war, Max Polikovich began to participate in some offensive operations, and after being injured last summer, Max Polikovich found himself a new job: looking for those shells for the Ukrainian army that were discarded by the Russian army.
When the Russian army retreated from Kyiv, Kharkiv and other places in 2022, it lost a large amount of ammunition, and these abandoned ammunition became an "important source of ammunition" for the Ukrainian army, Max Polikovich "sneaked into the swamp and waded through minefields", and found 2,500 shells from the swamp near Izyum alone, and a total of more than 14,000 shells and 4,000 ammunition for drones have been found for the Ukrainian army, of which the 92nd Brigade of the Ukrainian Army received more than 8,000 shells from him.
It is worth noting that there are many pictures and videos showing that the Ukrainian army is fighting the Russian army with Indian-made ERFB-BT 155 mm caliber shells, although there have been previous photos of the Ukrainian army using Indian artillery shells, but those shells are obviously very old and most likely from stocks obtained from third countries, and now these shells look new, most likely made last year or in recent years.
The Indian Defense Research Network released some information, although it is not clear that India is supplying 155mm caliber artillery shells to Ukraine through third countries, but it shows that India has received a surge in orders for 155mm caliber artillery shells in recent months, buyers from the Middle East and the United States have bought shells worth more than 20 billion rupees (about 240 million US dollars), India has remained neutral in the Russian-Ukrainian war, but the artillery shells fired by India seem to be being sent to Ukraine indirectly through third countries.
India is one of the few countries in the world that can produce both NATO and Russian standard artillery shells, and this compatibility makes India invaluable to Ukraine. We don't know if the Indian government knew or acquiesced in the fact that Indian-made artillery shells were sent to Ukraine, but it is important to emphasize that at the end of last month, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba made a two-day visit to India in the hope that India would stay away from Russia, and it is not known whether to ask the Indian government to allow the sale of artillery shells to Ukraine through indirect channels.
Since the outbreak of the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, India has been under tremendous pressure from the West, and despite importing a lot of oil from Russia at low prices, India does not seem to have helped Russia much: India is only willing to pay for Russian oil in rupees, refuses to use dollars, euros or UAE dirhams, and strictly abides by Western sanctions against Russia in financial and other aspects. India's Central Committee immediately did not favor Ukraine, and we did not see how much advantage Russia has taken advantage of India, and India clearly understands whether it should choose the West or Russia in the great changes of this era.