Russia scrambles to increase weapons production for Ukraine war

Russian President Vladimir Putin, facing military production delays and mounting battlefield losses, has urged his government to cut through bureaucracy to crank out enough weapons and supplies to feed his troops in Ukraine, where a Ukrainian counteroffensive has put Russia’s forces on the back foot.
The Russian military’s supply shortfalls in the eight-month war have been so pronounced that Putin had to create a structure to try to address them.

On Tuesday, Putin chaired a new committee designed to accelerate the production and delivery of weapons and supplies for Russian troops, and stressed the need to “gain higher tempo in all areas”.

Russian news reports have acknowledged that many of those mobilised to fight in Ukraine  – a figure the Russian president said was 222,000 out of an initial target of 300,000 – have not been provided with adequate basic equipment, such as medical kits and flak jackets, and have had to find their own supplies.