Russian Defense Minister Shoigu Says Arms Supply Is The Key To Success In Ukraine: Requests Increased Missile Production

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. (Source: Kremlin)

JAKARTA - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that production and supply of weapons to the front lines in Ukraine would be critical to the success of what Moscow called a "special military operation".

Not only that, Defense Minister Shoigu has also requested that missile production be doubled immediately.

"The actions of Russian units carrying out special operations rely heavily on recharging supplies of weapons, military equipment, and timely destruction tools," Minister Shoigu said in a speech published by his ministry and broadcast on state television.

He further said companies engaged in the defense industry had been ordered to quickly increase "speed and production volume".

In particular, he said that high-precision missile production needs to be duplicated "as soon as possible", with Tactical Missile Corp., the maker of a missile system sanctioned by the United States and the European Union, will report how they are trying to meet those targets.

Separately, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian Wagner Group's mercenaries, on Monday said its troops were supplied only by a third of the artillery shells they needed to fight in the city of Bakhmut, Eastern Ukraine.

Prigozhin has seen a lack of ammunition supply from Moscow for months, saying poor support hindered Russian attacks.

Earlier, Western and Ukrainian officials have months said a shortage of artillery ammunition and missiles hampered Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has now entered its 15th month. Meanwhile, the war Moscow originally planned to end in a matter of weeks, continuing to this day without a clear end.

Last December, British military intelligence said Russia was limiting its long-range missile attacks on Ukraine due to a lack of cruise missiles. Meanwhile, in March, London said Russia almost certainly had to ration artillery shells or use outdated artillery shells.

In recent days, Russia has killed and injured dozens of people in Ukraine in its first large-scale missile attack in Ukraine for weeks.

However, Ukraine says its air defense system managed to intercept most of the incoming missiles.