Russia’s armed forces have already received enough ammunition this year, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday, after a day earlier mercenary commander Wagner made fresh allegations about shortages facing his troops, TASS reported.
“This year, the armed forces have already received a sufficient amount of ammunition for effective fire damage to the enemy,” Shoigu said during a telephone conversation with the command of the Russian army.
“In general, the military-industrial complex meets the needs of the army and navy. But it is necessary to identify risks of non-fulfillment of obligations by companies in a timely manner and take operational measures,” he added.
His comments came after Yevgeny Prigozhin again appealed to Moscow’s defense ministry on Monday to supply his fighter jets with more ammunition.
Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner’s private paramilitary group, said his soldiers needed at least 300 tons of artillery shells a day to support the assault on the town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.
“Three hundred tons a day – that’s 10 containers of cargo – that’s not much at all… But we’re not given more than a third of that amount,” Prigozhin says on the recording, which was apparently filmed in the northern city of Soledar, east of Bakhmut. .
In a separate video, Wagner’s leader said that if the group of mercenaries was destined to die, it was “not because of the Ukrainian army or NATO, but because of our lousy bureaucrats at home.”
The history of the dispute between Prigozhin and the leadership of the Russian army
On February 20, Prigozhin publicly complained for the first time about what he called a “major problem” with the supply of ammunition to his mercenaries.
Mercenary boss Wagner said he believes Russia has enough munitions because “industry has reached the desired level,” but he personally cannot solve the problem of supplying his troops, despite all the “connections and knowledge” he has.
A few days later, he declared “victory” in the munitions battle, but recently renewed his accusations against the Russian Ministry of Defense.
On Sunday, he said a Ukrainian counteroffensive could turn into a “tragedy” for Russia, again warning that its fighters were running out of ammunition.
“We (Wagner) have only 10-15 percent of the ammunition we need,” he said in an interview with pro-Kremlin military correspondent Semyon Pegov.
Prigozhin, who blamed the Russian military for a lack of ammunition, said he expected a counteroffensive from Ukraine in mid-May.
Ukraine said this week that preparations for a counteroffensive are nearing completion.
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Source: Hot News
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