Russia’s defense minister says weapons production key to success in Ukraine

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that Russia was inflicting heavy blows to Ukraine across the entire frontline, but that the supply of weapons was crucial to ensuring the success of what Moscow calls its “special military operation.”

In a meeting with Russia’s top military officials, Shoigu said Russian forces were engaged in combat operations “along the entire line of contact” and were fighting not only Ukraine but also “unprecedented military assistance from the West.”

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However, he said Russia was successfully attacking Ukrainian depots storing Western-supplied weapons.

Shoigu said Moscow had taken steps to boost its arms production to support the war, as he said Russian forces’ success on the battlefield would “largely depend on the timely replenishment of weapons” and other military equipment.

“The country’s leadership has set defense enterprises the task of increasing the pace and volume of production in a short time,” Shoigu said, according to a transcript of his remarks published by his ministry.

Shoigu said the army had all the ammunition it needed for use on the battlefield this year, but called on a major rocket producer to urgently double its output of high-precision missiles.

Russia has in recent days killed and injured dozens of people in its largest strikes on Ukraine for weeks.

On Monday, the head of the Wagner private militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose troops are leading the assault on Bakhmut, renewed his accusation that the defense ministry was not supplying enough ammunition to his fighters. Prigozhin said he needed 300 tons a day of artillery munitions, but was getting only a third of that.

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