The president UkraineVladimir Zelensky said this Friday that if he does not receive promised American military aid, blocked by disputes in Congress, his troops will have to withdraw in “small steps.”

“If there is no American support“This means that we have no air defense, no Patriot missiles, no electronic warfare inhibitors, no 155-mm artillery rounds,” said the Ukrainian president. Washington Post.

“This means we’ll go back, we will retireStep by step, small steps,” he added. “We’re trying to find a way to not go backwards.”

In turn, the head of the Ukrainian army Alexander Syrsky warned that his forces are running low on ammunition and that the shortage of their arsenals has forced them in recent weeks to adopt a strategy of withdrawing from the front.

“A few days ago, the enemy’s (Russian) advantage in ammunition It was six to one.“, the general said in an interview with the Ukrainian agency. Ukrinform.

This situation has led, for example, to Ukrainian troops are withdrawing from Avdiivka given that Russia “gained a significant advantage in forces and equipment for assault units.”

“This merciless bombing has compromised the integrity of our defenses, allowing The enemy will advance gradually. The lack of ammunition for our artillery also played a negative role,” he said.

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Syrsky took command of the Ukrainian army in February after the dismissal of his highly popular predecessor Valery Zaluzhny. The general has since accepted more introverted position and rarely appears in the media.

Although the general thanked the international assistance that Ukraine receives “without this kind of materials, without ammunition, without defense systems, It will be much more difficult to fight this powerful enemy.“.

Having more weapons and air defense systems, Ukraine “without a doubt” could maintain certain positions, he assured. Echoing comments from other Ukrainian officials, he called on the West to supply ammunition and weapons “more quickly and in sufficient quantities.”

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On the positive side, the general assured that his troops They continue to make significant sacrifices to Russia. They estimate that between February and March this year, Moscow requested more than 570 tanks, about 1,430 armored fighting vehicles, almost 1,680 artillery pieces and 64 air defense systems.

“It is also very important that enemy activity in the air has decreased. In just ten days of February we shot down 13 enemy aircraftincluding two A50 early warning and control aircraft of strategic importance,” he noted, before dwelling on recent attacks on Russian ships over the weekend in the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

(according to information from Reuters and Europe Press)