Zgurets, for his part, cited a military source as saying that the quality of the US cartridges' bullets leaves much to be desired.
"These bullets 'devour' our [sniper rifles'] trunks. This ammunition is worse in terms of accuracy than those that we buy on our own. And the cores of the armor-piercing bullets just crumble when they touch an armored barrier," the source said.
Zgurets recalled that earlier this year, Ukraine purchased four varieties of the US-made cartridges, to suit four ammo calibers for several types of sniper rifles.
#BREAKING #Donbas militia continues to capture western-supplied weapons > sniper rifle Barret M82 #ukraine #nato #EU pic.twitter.com/cos3Ue4t8Q
— Storm Bringer (@StormBringer15) 16 апреля 2016 г.
However, it turned out that the ammunition isn't sufficiently accurate, and only a few of the US bullets were capable of piercing through a six-millimeter steel plate used in bulletproof jackets.
"Armor-piercing 12.7mm and 8.58mm cartridges have characteristics which are even worse than the Soviet cartridge B-32 of a smaller caliber," Zgurets said.
To make things worse, the US cartridges proved to be non-waterproof, and if a liquid leaking in such a cartridge, its powder can grow damp, according to Zgurets.
"As far as the sniper ammunition is concerned, the Americans got the money, which should prompt Kiev to demand that the cartridges' quality be on a par with the price tag," he concluded.
In late March, Ukrainian Defense Minister Sergey Poltorak said that his country's armed forces are currently in need of some types of ammunition.
He said that Ukraine is "planning to buy ammunition from our partners while munition factories are being built" in the country.
#Ukraine regime transferred foreign instructors to #Donbass to train #Ukraine regime Sniper units for war against #Donbass people. pic.twitter.com/Cg5edY2czQ
— Maurice Schleepen (@MauriceSchleepe) 12 апреля 2017 г.
Also in March, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that US President Donald Trump will not provide any information related to sending lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine because he does not want to undermine his own negotiating strategy.
At present, US military assistance to Kiev is limited to supplying uniforms and equipment, including counter-battery radars, drones and means of secure communication.
In February 2015, Kiev forces and the Donbass militia agreed to a cessation of hostilities brokered by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
The ceasefire has repeatedly been violated since then, with both sides accusing each other of breaking the truce.
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