Putin's military is probably "burning" ammunition in the Ukraine war - but is hoping for the "joker" Iran
Created: 11/23/2022, 1:39 p.m
By: Franziska Schwarz
Arsenal almost exhausted?
The image released by the Russian Defense Ministry shows a Russian Iskander missile in action.
© Russian Ministry of Defense/Imago
According to experts, the military under Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin is running out of ammunition.
But that is not a reason to give the all-clear in the Ukraine war.
New York/Munich – So far, both parties have suffered major losses in the Ukraine war.
For Russia under Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, they are now becoming a real economic problem.
"The country is running out of everything right now," the
Wall Street Journal
quoted military strategist Eliot Cohen of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Tuesday (November 22).
"A large part of the arsenal has expired because of corruption, mismanagement or just plain laziness," the expert on Russian weapons told the US newspaper.
And Moscow is currently struggling more with its shrinking economy than Kyiv under President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to the report.
Ukraine-News: Expert sees "joker" for Putin in military equipment
According to the report, a "joker" in the whole thing for Moscow could be arms imports from Iran.
However, this makeshift is also interpreted as a sign of the current weakness.
According to the US government under President Joe Biden, Russia is now also buying ammunition from North Korea under ruler Kim Jong-Un.
The
Wall Street Journal
also reported.
that Putin's military had fired "a huge amount of cheap, inaccurately hitting ammunition" in the past few months.
"The rate has now fallen drastically, say observers, which could mean that ammunition now has to be rationed - or that there has been a turnaround in the fighting.
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British intelligence: Putin's military has money problems
As for the rumors about Russia's economic problems, the British secret service reported last week that Russia now wants to plug its budget holes by borrowing through government bonds.
However, by tapping into the bond market on a large scale, the country has prepared for a more uncertain fiscal environment, the military experts judged in their Nov. 19 update.
It was published by the Ministry of Defense in London.
Russia has carried out its largest bond issue to date in one day and raised 820 billion rubles (equivalent to around 13 billion euros), it said.
"This is important for Russia, as debt issuance is an important mechanism for sustaining defense spending, which has increased significantly since the invasion of Ukraine." Because of the extensive sanctions, Russia is largely cut off from Western-dominated international payments.
(frs)
