Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow scrambles to ramp up weapons production

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has urged his administration to ramp up the production of weapons amidst major losses in the war that is moving toward its ninth month. The move comes as Ukrainian forces have been advancing in partially occupied territories in an ongoing counter-attack.

Putin oversaw a committee Tuesday that aimed to accelerate the production and delivery of weapons and other supplies for Russian troops, stressing the need to “gain higher tempo in all areas.”

This also follows news reports from Russian outlets that many of the reserve troops that were mobilized to fight on the ground in Ukraine have not been given the proper basic equipment such as medical kits and flak jackets and had to resort to finding their own supplies.

Putin attempted to downplay the issues last week when he visited a training site in Russia as he was shown soldiers that were properly equipped. Other reports have also suggested that Russian troops were made to use old or unreliable equipment and that some of the newly mobilized reserve troops were brought to the front lines with very little military training.

The British defense ministry said in its intelligence bulletin that Moscow was trying to make up for the dwindling supply of long-range precision weapons with drones to penetrate Ukraine’s air defenses.

“The slower tempo of Russian air, missile, and drone strikes possibly reflects decreasing missile and drone stockpiles and the strikes’ limited effectiveness of accomplishing Russian strategic military goals,” said the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

However, even with diminishing supplies and major losses for Russia, the World Bank said it has inflicted around $348 billion of damage in Ukraine such as bombarding its power grids, homes, and public buildings. The United Nations said there have now been 15,246 civilian casualties in Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24.

Ukrainian forces have now set their sights on reclaiming the partially occupied territory of Kherson, which Russia claimed to annex last month. Ukraine’s defense minister said that the counteroffensive in the Kherson region poses a big challenge compared to the counter-attack in the northeastern region due to the weather and the terrain.