Russian defense chief urged a state-owned company to double its missile production due to an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive and a reported ammunition shortage for both sides in the 14-month-long war.
During a meeting with top military officials, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu acknowledged that the Tactical Missiles Corporation had been fulfilling its contracts on time.
However, he stated that there was an urgent need to increase the production of high-precision weapons as quickly as possible.
Analysts are speculating whether Russia is experiencing a shortage of high-precision ammunition, given the reduction in frequency and scale of its missile barrages against Ukraine.
The U.K. Defense Ministry noted in a Tuesday assessment that “logistics problems remain at the heart of Russia’s struggling campaign in Ukraine.”
“Russia does not have enough munitions to achieve success on the offensive,” it said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday described Washington’s latest estimate of Russia’s losses in Ukraine as “spun out of thin air.”
The White House said Monday it now estimated that Russia had suffered 100,000 casualties just since December, including more than 20,000 killed, as Ukraine rebuffed a heavy assault by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. estimate was based on newly declassified American intelligence. He did not explain how the intelligence community derived the number.
“Washington doesn’t have the opportunity to give any correct numbers. They don’t have such data,” Peskov said.
Later Tuesday, the Ukrainian military reported that Russian defense launched 30 airstrikes, three missile strikes and eight attacks from multiple rocket launchers, resulting in casualties among the civilian population and damage to civilian infrastructure.
