Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in countries increasing their arms imports due to running tensions with Moscow. A report by a Sweden-based think tank found that Kyiv has become the world’s third-largest arms importer.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute published a report on Monday that found that European countries increased their arms imports by 47 percent in a five-year period from 2018 to 2022. The report added that the larger increase in arms imports came from NATO member countries, increasing their imports of major weapons by 65 percent in the same timeframe.
Despite the increases in Europe, global arms imports declined by 5.1 percent. The United States, South Korea, and France were the biggest suppliers to NATO countries in Europe in the past five years. Poland, Germany, the US, and the United Kingdom are the biggest suppliers of major arms to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion last year.
“Even as arms transfers have declined globally, those to Europe have risen sharply due to tensions between Russia and most other European states,” said SIPRI Arms Transfers Program senior researcher Pieter D. Wezeman. “Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European states want to import more arms faster.”
Many of the arms that are being supplied to Ukraine are second-hand items from existing stockpiles, according to the report. This includes around 228 artillery pieces and around 5,000 guided artillery rockets from the United States, 280 tanks from Poland, and over 7,000 anti-tank missiles from the United Kingdom. The report also said the war also had a limited impact on the total volume of arms in the past five years.
Meanwhile, the fighting continues at the key city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, and the British defense ministry said Russian forces are experiencing a worsening shortage of artillery ammunition. The situation, according to the ministry, has worsened to the extent that several Russian forces on the front lines have resorted to rationing their shells. The ministry said that this might likely be the reason why Russia has not been able to succeed in its operational offensives in the region.
The ministry said that Moscow appears to be turning to using old ammunition that has previously been declared unfit for use on the battlefield.