Vladimir Putin has used up almost two-thirds of Russia’s ammunition reserves, a senior military intelligence analyst has claimed – enough for another month. Meanwhile, the UK’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) likewise said the evidence demonstrated Russia’s stocks were “depleted”.
Speaking to the country’s public broadcaster ERR yesterday, Margo Grosberg, head of Estonian military intelligence, told Estonian public broadcaster ERR: “The Russian Federation has used up about two-thirds of the ammunition it has, or slightly less than that.”
Mr Grosberg said the shortages explained why Russian troops were having to fall back, saying: “For limited operations and with economic use of ammunition, Russia will have enough for about a month.” Russia is now stockpiling ammunition in order to renew its offensive in the spring of next year, Mr Grosberg said.
Moscow was also trying to buy missiles and drones from Iran and North Korea, and was exporting ammunition from Belarus, Mr Grosberg said.
In its latest update on its DefenceHQ Twitter feed, the MoD said Russia’s use of aging cruise missiles with the nuclear warheads removed “highlights the level of depletion in Russia’s stock of long-range missiles”.
Also yesterday, CNN reported that Iran had agreed to supply Russia with 1,000 short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine.
A report published by the 38 North website earlier this month highlighted the first traffic from North Korea to Russia in several years.
Authors Martyn Williams and Peter Makowsky wrote: “It is impossible to determine the purpose of the train from the imagery, but the crossing comes amid reports of arms sales from North Korea to Russia and a general expectation of the resumption of trade between the two countries. .”
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