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By Ellie Cook
Senior Defense Reporter
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Russian forces have lost 40 artillery systems in the past 24 hours, Ukraine's military said on Tuesday morning.
Since May 17, Moscow has lost nearly 170 artillery systems, according to an updated count published by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Tuesday.
On Monday, the General Staff said 20 Russian artillery systems had been destroyed, with 29 losses registered under Kyiv's tally, posted on Sunday. This brings the overall Russian artillery losses since the start of the full-scale invasion to 3,318, per the General Staff's total.
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Newsweek could not independently verify these figures. The Russian Defense Ministry has been contacted for comment via email.
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Artillery and its supplies have played a crucial role in the war efforts waged by both Moscow and Kyiv since the outbreak of the conflict in February 2022.
"The war in Ukraine has become an artillery war," the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies said in January this year. Ukraine has frequently asked for artillery supplies from its Western backers.
The U.S. has prioritized artillery supplies in its tranches of military aid, including in the most recently promised package announced by U.S. Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, on Sunday. The U.S. will provide additional ammunition for the HIMARS—or High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems—it has sent to Ukraine, the Defense Department said in a press release, as well as more 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds.
As of May 21, the U.S. has provided more than 160 155mm howitzers as well as 72 105mm howitzers and 38 HIMARS, in addition to hundreds of mortar systems, the Defense Department said.
On April 8, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. think tank, said Russian forces were using artillery to "offset their degraded offensive capabilities."
Moscow's fighters are "still heavily relying on artillery to offset key shortcomings" of their forces in other areas, the ISW said at the time.
The Kremlin's troops use barrages of artillery to "flatten settlements before seizing them," the ISW said, compensating for failings such as a lack of airpower and poor targeting skills.
Also on Tuesday, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister, Hanna Maliar, said "the number of shellings is consistently high" in the fiercely contested Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The city has been claimed by both Wagner mercenary forces in the levelled settlement and by the Russian Defense Ministry, but Kyiv insists fighting is ongoing.
"We have a slight advance on the flanks to the north and south of Bakhmut," Maliar said in a post to social media on Tuesday, adding that fighting was continuing in the city's suburban areas.
On Tuesday, Russia's Defense Ministry doubled down on its statements asserting the capture of Bakhmut, saying Kyiv has "suffered a defeat in the city of Artemovsk," referring to the settlement by its Soviet-era name.
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