Denies Russia Is Running Out Of Weapons As The West Accuses, Dmitry Medvedev: We Have Everything

Dmitry Medvedev (front half) during a visit to the weapons manufacturer. (Source: Yekaterina Shtukina/POOL/TASS)

JAKARTA - Former President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia has enough weaponry to continue fighting in Ukraine, refuting Western reports that Moscow is running out of missiles and artillery.

"Our opponents are watching, they periodically make statements that we don't have this or that... I want to disappoint them. We have enough of everything", Medvedev said during a visit to the Kalashnikov factory in Izhevsk, some 1,000 kilometers away. (620 miles) east of Moscow reported Reuters on January 25.

In a video posted on his Telegram channel, Medvedev can be seen inspecting Kalashnikov rifles, artillery shells, missiles, and drones.

Medvedev told officials during the visit that drones were highly relied on for what Moscow called "special military operations" in Ukraine.

Medvedev further said that thousands of units of the most needed weapons and equipment have been supplied to the troops since the beginning of the year and this measure will be maintained.

"This year, since the beginning of this year, the most needed weapons, military equipment, and ammunition are being supplied. This is roughly thousands of units and, of course, the levels reached at the end of the year should be maintained in the current period as well", said the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council at a meeting of the Russian Military-Industrial Commission on the sidelines of the visit, citing TASS.

Earlier, Ukrainian and Western military officials said Russia was facing an arms shortage, having fired thousands of artillery shells and missiles into Ukraine since its invasion 11 months ago.

Medvedev, once seen by the West as his best hope for rapprochement with Moscow during his 2008-2012 presidency, has been one of Russia's most hawkish pro-war voices.

After he left the presidency in 2012 to make way for Vladimir Putin's return to the top job, Medvedev served as Russia's prime minister for nearly eight years.

Medvedev is now deputy chairman of the influential Security Council. Last December he became head of a new military-industrial commission, to oversee the production of weapons to support the war.