Low Ammo Has Ukraine ‘More Selective’ With HIMARS Targets: US Veteran

He said his unit had good support from the HIMARS, a long-range, high-precision rocket launcher capable of hitting targets. 50 miles far – but its effectiveness deteriorated as the rockets wore out.

Poquette is a sniper with Chosen Company, part of the Ukrainian 59th Motorized Brigade. The chosen company is made up of international soldiers currently fighting for Ukraine, and while it is technically a reconnaissance unit, it also carries out frontline assault operations and defensive work.

He said that when he was not on a mission, he was looking at satellite images on computers, “looking for targets, looking for batteries, artillery batteries that needed to be hit, looking for convoys, possible resupply points for the Russians”.

It would then bring these targets to the Ukrainian operator HIMARS, who would then initiate the military verification process to confirm the target and see if it was worth hitting.

The next step would be to “Send a rocket and boom, boom, target eliminated, done.”

But that was earlier in the conflict. The supply of rockets began to dry up in October when Russia launched a new offensive in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine and when congressional Republicans began blocking U.S. aid to several billion dollars.

Last month, Congress approved $300 million for Ukraine, which would have included HIMARS rockets. But the allocated money had already been spent, according to recent reports, meaning the money is not available at the moment.

Not enough rockets

As the supply situation at the front deteriorated, Poquette was often told “we’re not really interested in those types of targets at the moment” when presenting potential strike options. This change, he explained, is due “to the fact that we are running out of rockets.”

The unit “started to become more and more selective about its targets,” he said.

For example, they stopped trying to hit Russian training areas. They used to be a good target, because “that’s where you usually have a collection of troops. And so for one missile to hit, you can take out 30 guys. So at this point, it’s really effective.”

But these were further from the Ukrainians and often involved rocket attacks on Russian air defense systems.

This risk would be acceptable for Ukraine if it had more rockets. The solution would be to shoot more, which would make it more likely that at least one of them would get through, but that just wasn’t something they could do anymore.

HIMARS were hailed as the perfect weapon for Ukraine when they first arrived in 2022, and they have since been used to destroy Russian weaponry and strike Russian troops, repeatedly causing significant damage.

But officials say Ukraine needs more rockets. The Hudson Institute, a US think tank, said this month that Ukraine was facing a “serious shortage”.

Serious shortages

Ukraine is critically short of supplies, including ammunition for artillery and air defenses, while Republicans in the United States have continually blocked any additional aid for six months now.

Poquette, who has been recovering from an injury in kyiv since January, said these lawmakers are “to some extent responsible for our lack of ability to hold the ground.”

Ukrainian soldiers say they have to ration their supplies, meaning Russian targets they know could be hit are not hit.

Poquette said critical ammunition shortages also crippled operations in other ways, noting that early in the war they would take any opportunity to target and attempt to destroy advancing groups of Russian troops.

But Ukrainians had to change their mindset. If the group was small enough, “the Ukrainians would evaluate it and say: well, there are only two or three guys, maybe four, is this really worth an artillery shell or a mortar shell?”

Instead, infantry could be sent in to eliminate the threat, putting Ukrainian lives at risk without resorting to indirect fire.

Poquette said the type of marksmanship training they could do was also becoming increasingly limited. “After a while, we’d come out and they’d say, ‘Hey, go easy on the ammo, guys. Don’t waste so much ammo.'”

He said Ukrainian soldiers were so “desperate” for ammunition that they asked him for his grenades and bullets every time he handed over his post to a new team.

Poquette said the problem with Western aid is that it comes in “bits and pieces”, with lengthy debates delaying decisions to send certain equipment and varying levels of support arriving at different times, which makes planning very difficult for Ukraine.

Many Western experts and officials have said the situation is dire for Ukraine and that it could lose the war to Russia if it does not receive sufficient support.

Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command and NATO’s supreme allied commander, warned this week that Russia could quickly win the war if Ukraine does not get more aid and said said that most of the money approved for Ukraine would actually go to American companies.

Poquette urged the United States to maintain its support, saying the Republican Party’s actions had shaken his long-standing loyalty to the party. He argued that Ukraine has more than demonstrated that with enough support it can repel the Russians. All she needs is the unwavering support promised.

“What do they still have to prove? Don’t tie one hand behind their back,” he said. “Support Ukraine, help us win this war.”