When Will War in Ukraine End? Ammo Shortage Risks Prolonged Conflict

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine drags on, the two sides are using more shells than they can buy or produce—which means factories are becoming as critical as troops.

Final capping at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant assembly line.

Natalia Drozdiak

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On an average day in Ukraine, the opposing armies lob as many as 30,000 shells at one another. That's more than 200,000 a week, almost 1 million a month—without including the bullets, land mines, hand grenades and other munitions being deployed as Vladimir Putin's invasion enters its second year.

While Russian troops typically fire about twice as many rounds as Ukrainian forces do, stockpiles on both sides are shrinking. Ukraine's ammunition use is "many times higher" than the current rate of production of its allies, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on Feb. 13.