Putin Admits Russia Doesn't Have Enough Drones, Warplanes, Ammo
Vladimir Putin has admitted that Russia sorely lacks the firepower it needs for the war in Ukraine.
He said "many things were missing," such as ammo, aircraft, and drones, per state media.
It's the second time this week that Putin's commented on Russia's flagging military capabilities.
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Russian leader Vladimir Putin publicly admitted on Tuesday that his forces lack the ammo, drones, aircraft, and communications equipment to fuel the Kremlin's war in Ukraine.
"During the special military operation, it became clear that many things were missing," he told state media at a press conference. "These are high-precision ammunition, communications equipment, aircraft, drones, and so on."
"We have them. Unfortunately, we lack them quantitatively," Putin added, per Russian news agency Interfax.
And that's even after Russia ramped up manufacturing of military equipment, according to figures cited by Putin.
"We had a 2.7-fold increase in production for the main types of weapons over the year, and 10 times for the most demanded areas," Putin said, per Interfax.
It's the second time this week that Putin has spoken of shortages in Russia's arsenal of ammunition. On Friday, he said in a statement on the Kremlin's website that its forces "do not yet have enough modern arms" for the war.
On Friday, Putin said Moscow has been working to fill the gap, and that Russia's military industries are "intensively building up production of modern weapons."
Putin's latest remarks stand in contrast to his comments last August, when he boasted at a military forum that Russia's weapons were "cutting edge" and "decades" ahead of their competition.
Since August, he's made concessions that he wants Russia to improve its military industries. In November, Putin called for the Russian military industry to up its game with weapons development, while speaking of "arising issues" in the defense sector.
Western experts and officials also say Russia's supplies of advanced weaponry and equipment have been hit hard by the war in Ukraine. In April, several reports said that Russia's losses had cut so deep into its inventory that it's been deploying early Soviet-era tanks, which were manufactured just after World War II.
Russia's Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.
Source: Business Insider
