Ukraine reduces russian artillery superiority

The source cited by the media states that previously, for every 10,000 artillery shells fired by Ukraine, the Russians were able to use as many as 70,000. This meant a superiority ratio of 7:1 for the Russian army as recently as the beginning of this year.

Currently, it is reported that the Ukrainian side is using approximately 15,000 shells against 45,000 Russian ones. On the one hand, this indicates an increase in Ukrainian capabilities, while on the other hand, it shows a significant decrease in Russian firepower. The current ratio of ammunition used stands at 1:3 in favor of Russia. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, further eliminating this gap will allow Ukraine to prepare counteroffensives in certain sections of the front.

Certainly, the change in circumstances has been aided by the Czech ammunition initiative, which has begun to yield gradual results. Prime Minister Shmyhal reported that 50,000 shells have been delivered so far.

Hungary Cut Off from Oil? Ukraine Turns Off the Tap: Here’s Why

Supplies of oil to Hungary from the Russian giant Lukoil have been halted. Ukraine has turned off the tap due to sanctions. Has Orban been cut off from oil? Not entirely. What does the shutdown of the Druzhba oil pipeline mean for Hungary? The key factor is what reserves they have.

Russian oil has ceased to flow to Hungary through Ukrainian territory. Kyiv has turned off Viktor Orban’s access to cheap "Putin oil", thus tightening sanctions against the Russian Lukoil.

As reminded by Ukrainska Pravda, Lukoil has been subject to sanctions in Ukraine since 2018, although of a limited nature. The restrictions previously included only the requirement to withdraw capital, trade limitations, and bans on engaging in the privatization or leasing of state assets.

However, in June 2024, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) significantly expanded these sanctions by adding a ban on transit through its territory. As a result, Russian oil delivered via the southern branch of the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline can no longer be delivered to Hungary. Importantly, these supplies were exempt from Western sanctions and accounted for two-thirds of all deliveries to that country.

The head of Hungary’s diplomacy, Peter Szijjarto, quoted by Bloomberg, described the interruption of Russian oil supplies as "certain legal complications" that are currently being worked on.

Hungary Without Russian Oil

The cut-off of transit through Ukraine should not come as a surprise to Hungary. Kyiv had previously signaled this step, and Peter Szijjarto himself discussed this issue during the UN General Assembly with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He emphasized at that time that, from Hungary's perspective, Russian oil is crucial for the energy security of his country.

Moscow and Budapest are connected by numerous interests. In 2023, Russia supplied Hungary with 3.3 million tons of oil and 4.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas. The volume of Russian oil supplied through Transneft the previous year was 4.9 million tons.

Lukoil is the largest supplier of oil to the Hungarian company MOL, and according to Bloomberg data, only in January 2024, Budapest paid the Russian supplier $343 million for oil.