Russian Tanker Fumes at Commanders for 'Empty' Tank Shell: 'No TNT!'

New footage circulating online appears to show a Russian soldier criticizing a "brand new" tank round as both Moscow and Ukraine attempt to maintain ammunition supplies for the grinding battles along the front lines in southern and eastern Ukraine.

"Look what we got. Here's a brand new shell, but there is no TNT inside," a soldier can be heard saying in Russian in the expletive-filled footage. "We have dozens of such shells, they arrived just the other day."

"Our commanders are angry: 'Where are you shooting? Why is there no detonation?" the unidentified soldier continued. "We have dozens of these rounds, just arrived. They are not detonating—well, here's the reason. It's empty, no payload."

It is not clear from the footage which "new" shells the Russian soldier is referring to.

"With these rounds, we aren't going to win this war, they are going to send us to our graves," the soldier can be heard saying.

Newsweek could not independently verify when or where the footage was recorded.

The Russian Defense Ministry has been contacted for comment.

Firepower is crucial for Russia's war effort, as it comes up against Ukraine's Western-supplied main battle tanks, anti-tank rounds and artillery.

Both militaries are locked in a war of attrition, in which destroying the enemy with firepower is more important than maneuvers, according to Frederik Mertens, a strategic analyst with the Hague Center for Security Studies.

"Artillery is king in such battles and is responsible for most of the losses an army inflicts on its enemy," he told Newsweek earlier this week.

Around 80 percent of the casualties on both sides of the front lines are down to artillery, Dan Rice, a former adviser to Ukraine's top soldier, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, previously told Newsweek.

The Kremlin's fighters have lost a total of 6,337 artillery systems in the long months since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to updated figures from Ukraine's General Staff on Wednesday. This includes 38 artillery systems taken out in the previous 24 hours, according to Ukraine's military.

Moscow said on Wednesday that Kyiv has lost 6,557 field artillery guns and mortars in the more than 18 months of war.

Neither Russia's nor Ukraine's figures can be independently verified, and neither government reveals the losses of its own armed forces.