Remember

 

when you thought  it was the Russians who were running out of munitions?

Ukraine updates: NATO warns of donor ammunition shortages

Somebody is bleeding us dry on purpose.

it was their "intent" all along.

"NATO's Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine was using ammunition faster than NATO members could produce it."

"NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday that the transatlantic military alliance would be increasing its targets for ammunition stockpiles, amid rapid depletion of its inventory in the war in Ukraine. 

"The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of ammunition," Stoltenberg said. "The current rate of Ukraine's ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current production rates. This puts our defense industries under strain. (...) So we need to ramp up new production and invest in our production capacities." 

Stoltenberg also said NATO members would "step up and sustain" support for Ukraine, saying: "NATO stands with Ukraine for as long as it takes." 

"Ammunition resupply has been a concern for Ukrainian and Russian forces alike for months."

"DW's correspondent in Kyiv, Nick Connolly, said he had spoken with Ukrainian commanders who said they were having to make "very tough choices" about ammunition usage."

"I've met commanders of howitzers, of artillery pieces, who've told me that they don't know how long they can keep on doing their job, if they will be forced to withdraw and move away from positions and wait for more artillery," Connolly said. "This is a very real problem." 

"Right now you're seeing Ukraine and its allies scrambling around the world — looking as far afield as Pakistan and South Korea for artillery munitions," Connolly said. "We've had reports of Pakistani-made Soviet-caliber munitions heading this way, [and] of US troops being asked to send munitions that they had stockpiled in South Korea to Europe for Ukraine."

(You might need that later when things get going in the pacific yo...No good answers for any of the myriad crises we face tells you where we are etc...)

"Asked about a possible Russian offensive in Ukraine, NATO's Stoltenberg said it had already begun. 

"We see no sign whatsoever that [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin is preparing for peace," he said. "We see how they are sending more troops, more weapons, more capabilities." 

(Exactly they softened you up, saw your tactics and have adjusted, are bleeding you dry...and now the real invasion is coming...

No Western Analysist could figure that out?

Really?

I just have a really hard time believing that

.)