Guns and bullets grow in the land of sunflowers

New Delhi: Amid the mass death of its people and rampant destruction of a once beautiful country known for its rich farm bounty of sunflowers, foodgrains and fruits as well as for its ski resorts and sunny beaches, war-ravaged Ukraine is witnessing unprecedented militarization and weaponisation on a shocking scale.

While the Russian military juggernaut has bore down mercilessly on many urban and rural swaths, raining missiles amid artillery strikes, weapons and ammunition are pouring into the country in a collaborative US-led effort. In the course of about 56 days since that fateful dawn of February 24 when the Russian forces forayed into Ukraine, 50 million rounds of small arms have already been pushed into the country by US-led forces.

John F. Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary reeled out the number at a briefing on Tuesday: “Since the invasion, we have helped deliver, not just from our stocks but from stocks of other nations, more than 50 million rounds of small arms ammunition of various calibres - 50 million. And that's the kind of stuff that the Ukrainians are literally using every single day since this invasion began.”

Kirby added that while the continued deliveries of small arms and ammunition doesn't get the attention of everybody but “it is still a vital, vital contribution”. 50 million or 5 crore rounds of ammunition works out to about 9,00,000 rounds of ammunition every day in a country whose population just exceeds 4.3 crores.

But these small weapons ammo is a small change when compared with the very powerful weapons the Russians are employing including guns that are rumoured to vapourise human beings not to speak of the frequent airstrikes, missile raids and bunker-busting bombs resulting in populations being decimated.

The US and its allies are also committing to an uninterrupted supply of weapons. A new tranche of weapons have begun being pushed into Ukraine from Friday (April 15) onwards that is part of a $800 million arms package. The new weapons include 18 155mm Howitzers, 40,000 artillery rounds, unmanned coastal defence vessels, 10 AN/TPQ-36 counter artillery radars, two AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel air surveillance systems, 500 Javelin missiles, anti-armour systems, 300 Switchblade drones, 200 M113 Armoured Personnel Carriers, 100 Armoured High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles and 11 Mi-17 helicopters.

This latest cache of weapons and systems will also include body armour, optics and laser range finders, explosives, and protective equipment against chemical, biological and nuclear attacks. The Howitzers are believed to be the cutting edge M-777 ultra-light towed state-of-the-art artillery pieces that fire 155mm rounds.

“They are exactly the kinds of systems the Ukrainians have been asking for and they are tailored and designed - the things that we're giving them tailored and designed for the fight that we know they're in now in the Donbas and - and will be in coming days and weeks,” Kirby said in response to a pointed query.

Besides the US, Australia, Canada, and Saudi Arabia, India also operates the M-777. In a Rs 5,100 crore deal in November 2016, India ordered 145 howitzers from the US, of which about 90 have been delivered till now.