Putin says Russia offering its partners wide selection of advanced weapons

Russia offers its partners a wide selection of state-of-the-art weaponry in virtually all categories, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

“We offer our partners a broad selection of advanced weapons of practically all types, including state-of-the-art control and reconnaissance systems, high-precision weapons and robotics,” he said according to state news agency TASS.

Putin was speaking at the Army 2023 international military-technical forum in which the Russian defense ministry said would exhibit its most effective weapons in the Ukraine war, as well as “trophies” of captured equipment supplied by NATO to Ukraine.

The Russian President said a priority focus of the forum is unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs): “This area is being actively developed nowadays both in the military and civilian sectors. As a matter of fact, this is about the establishment of a new independent, research-intensive, high-technology industry sector.”

He also said that focus should be placed on innovation-driven and civilian-use production at defense-related enterprises as well: “Such products include boats, helicopters, amphibious aircraft and drones for a wide range of uses.”

Putin had ordered the head of the state defense conglomerate Rostec to increase the production of attack drones earlier this month.

Additionally, London-based arms monitoring group Conflict Armament Research (CAR) reported as a result of its investigations that Russia has started producing and fielding its own domestic replica of the Iranian-made kamikaze drone Shahed-136 to be used against Ukrainian targets.

Putin’s statement on prioritizing drones comes as drone warfare intensifies between Moscow and Kyiv, with both sides using UAVs to strike the heartland of the other side, usually targeting vital infrastructure.

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