Ukraine is rummaging through the graveyard of its cannons to find spare parts and keep shooting

At a repair base in Ukraine, mechanics are fixing Western artillery pieces using parts salvaged from the broken bodies of damaged howitzers, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The need to create such “Frankensteins” arose after two years of war, during which many of the Western-provided guns were destroyed, damaged or in need of restoration. The task is not easy. Ukraine operates a variety of different Western weapon systems, the components of which are not always interchangeable and engineers say they do not receive a steady stream of parts from the West. Parts from the US are supplied as part of aid packages. This means that if new funding agreements are not reached, the flow of American parts could dry up.

In response, Ukraine is producing its own spare parts for Western equipment and destroying other weapons to obtain vital components. To help, some foreign arms companies plan to start conducting repairs in Ukraine to shorten travel times. Ukraine is firing artillery guns much more than their manufacturers anticipated. Sergey, the chief engineer, said that before replacing the barrel, it usually has to fire 2500 times. Ukraine fires 5000 or more times, he said. With such excessive use, barrels typically lose accuracy and shooting range. Western officials are concerned about the state of armaments in Ukraine.