in the south of Ukraine, the war is raging and the Ukrainians are retreating, for lack of efficient equipment

A few chickens, geese looking to eat in the rubble and a village in ruins, deserted by its inhabitants: this is what the region of Mykolaiv, in the south of Ukraine, looks like. The front is very close, a few kilometers away. Valentin, commander of the artillery platoon, left him for a few minutes.

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He doesn’t really have morals. “Our artillery is too weak”, he laments. It must be said that it is a war of position which is played out in the south of Ukraine, guns against guns. The artillery pieces face each other, and the Russians are much better equipped than the Ukrainians.

“For one shell we fire our enemies fire fifteen. That is why we and our government are asking our allies to send us additional material.”

Valentin, commander of a Ukrainian artillery platoon

at franceinfo

“It’s importantinsists the commander. If we reinforce our artillery quickly, we can repel our enemies and retake our lands.” Valentin demands more ammunition, more guns and above all, he wants sophisticated equipment. The dream ? French Caesar guns. Six have already been delivered to Ukraine, but they have been sent to Donbass, where Russia has concentrated a large part of its forces for several weeks.

“We need this type of guns like the Caesars because they are very effectiveassures Valentin. Our post-Soviet guns do not hit accurately enough. We need 5 or 6 shells to hit the enemy targets against 1 or 2 with the foreign guns.”

While waiting for future deliveries of Western arms, the Russians are eating away at a little more ground on the Ukrainians in the Mykolaiv region every day. And the losses are piling up, Valentin is in despair: “Because of this power imbalance between the artillery and because of the constant Russian fire which is difficult for us to respond to, many civilians are killed. There is a lot of destruction. People lose their homes and belongings in an instant. accumulated throughout their life”he laments.

The interview is over. Valentin jumps into his 4×4, heading for the front. In the distance, in a field of wheat, black smoke rises. The Russian gunners struck again.