Russia's Lack of Ammunition and Fuel Will 'Become Fatal'—Ukraine

Ukrainian forces are hunting Russian arms warehouses and logistics nodes in support of Kyiv's broad ongoing offensive, a senior defense ministry official has said, seeking to "bleed" Moscow's front-line formations.

Hanna Maliar, Ukraine's deputy defense minister, wrote on Telegram on Thursday that Kyiv's forces destroyed six ammunition depots on the eastern front in the previous 24 hours. She confirmed the destruction of a large rocket storage site in the Donetsk city of Makiivka.

"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."

Maliar added that this week's strike on the rocket storage site in Makiivka was an example of Ukraine's focus on logistical targets. A video of this was widely circulated online, though Newsweek could not independently verify this footage.

"This is a vivid example of the effective work of the Ukrainian gunners, who inflicted fire damage, and aerial scouts, who corrected the strike," Maliar wrote. "A really large warehouse was destroyed, where a significant number of artillery shells and rockets for the BM-21 'GRAD' anti-aircraft missile system were stored."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment.

Ukrainian officials have been urging patience as Kyiv's forces press their long-awaited counteroffensive. The operation began in early June after months of training and shaping operations, but the slow pace has raised concerns among Kyiv's Western partners that the counteroffensive may not produce a decisive victory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the counteroffensive is progressing "slower than desired," though he added that Kyiv would not be pressured into a reckless strategy. "Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now," he told the BBC in June.

"It's not. What's at stake is people's lives. Whatever some might want, including attempts to pressure us, with all due respect, we will advance on the battlefield the way we deem best," Zelensky added.

Kyiv has reported significant advances at multiple points along the 800-mile front. The focus of recent fighting has been on the southern Zaporizhzhia front and in eastern Donetsk, particularly around the devastated city of Bakhmut where Ukrainian forces are trying to outflank Russian forces.

Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, told ABC News this week: "So far things are developing according to plans that were drawn up and approved."

And Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavskyi—who is leading the counteroffensive in the south—described the situation as "stable" and said: "The main thing is that we haven't reached our full potential."