The soldiers manning a U.S.-supplied M777 howitzer close to the front in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region have seen the enemy advance in recent weeks, slowly but surely, and wish they could do more to stop it.
Like other artillery positions along the 1,000-km (621-mile) contact line in eastern and southern Ukraine, they do not have the shells they need to suppress the Russian attacks that threaten to turn the course of the war in Moscow's favour.
"If we compare it with the beginning (of the full-scale invasion), when we fired up to 100 shells a day, then now, when we fire 30 shells it's a luxury," artillery gun commander Oleksandr Kozachenko told Reuters.
Sometimes the number of shells fired daily is in single digits, he added.
During a recent visit to the outpost, part of Ukraine's 148th Separate Artillery Brigade, Kozachenko's team was able to fire fairly regularly.
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