Russia is struggling to supply troops in Ukraine with sufficient weapons and ammunition, Western officials have said, just days before the second anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion.
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has recently urged the West to step up the supply of material – but one insider have suggested Moscow is facing similar logistical difficulties.
The Western official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia was facing “extreme challenges”, adding: “Russia’s domestic ammunition production capabilities are currently insufficient for meeting the needs of the Ukraine conflict.”
The country has only managed to increase its supply by seeking alternative sources, the official claimed.
They said: “Sanctions are hitting the Russian military industrial complex hard, causing severe delays and increasing costs.
“An inability to access Western components is severely undermining Russia’s production of new systems and repairs of old systems, with long-term consequences for the quality of weapons produced.”
Russia has made progress in recent days, taking the key eastern city of Avdiivka.
However, the official believed the successes had come at a significant cost in terms of casualties, with claims Putin has sacrificed 47,000 personnel – more than the population of Salisbury.
Russia is believed to be burning through artillery shells at five times the rate of Ukraine, but still at a lower one than in 2022.
Mr Zelensky, in his daily video address on Monday, said Russia has built up troops at some points along the 930-mile (1,500-kilometre) front line, in an apparent bid to capitalise on any perceived defensive weaknesses.
Speaking after a visit to the command post in the area of Kupiansk, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, he explained: “They are taking advantage of delays in aid to Ukraine.”
Ukrainian troops keenly felt a shortage of artillery, air defence systems and long-range weapons, Mr Zelensky stressed.
At the weekend Ukrainian forces pulled out of Avdiivka, where they had battled a fierce Russian assault for four months despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned.
Putin on Tuesday praised Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on capturing Avdiivka and urged him to press Russia’s advantage.
Shoigu said the military launched up to 460 strikes on Avdiivka per day, equivalent to about 200 metric tons of explosives.
He said: “We got the enemy in such a state that it was forced to flee the unbearable conditions.”
However, Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said that while the situation on the battlefield is hard, especially due to a lack of ammunition, the situation on the eastern front is not catastrophic.
