Soviet Stockpiles End so Russia Digs Deeper - UATV English

[TexasTowelie]

Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine is rapidly depleting its Soviet-era weapons stockpiles. With massive losses in tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery, Russia is struggling to replace these with refurbished Soviet reserves, writes The Economist. Experts predict a critical depletion of these reserves by mid-2025.

[BOSSHOG]

1. Putin is counting on his not so secret weapon

A trump election. If all the news about the Russian Ukraine Conflict is true, Putin is a pathetic leader. The bully on the playground getting his ass kicked and his military decimated by a comedian.

[Omnipresent]

2. Yeah, somehow they continue to pull through anyway.

Just like putin with his cancer, it seems like it’s actually keeping him alive!

[Cheezoholic]

3. Welcome Back!! n/t

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Welcome back

You were missed

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Russia's vast stocks of Soviet-era weaponry are running out

Putin has used up his surplus weapons

Link to tweet

https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/07/16/russias-vast-stocks-of-soviet-era-weaponry-are-running-out

For a long time it seemed that a war of attrition between Ukraine and a Russia with five times its population could end only one way. But the much-vaunted Russian offensive against Kharkiv in the north that started in May is fizzling out. Its advances elsewhere along the line, especially in the Donbas region, have been both strategically trivial and achieved only at huge cost. The question now is less whether Ukraine can stay in the fight and more how long can Russia keep up its current tempo of operations.

The key issue is not manpower. Russia seems able to go on finding another 25,000 or so soldiers each month to retain around 470,000 men at the front, although it is having to pay more for them. Production of missiles to strike Ukrainian infrastructure is also surging. But for all the talk of Russia having become a war economy, with some 8% of its gdp devoted to military spending, it is able to replace its staggering losses of tanks, armoured infantry vehicles and artillery only by drawing out of storage and refurbishing stocks built up in the Soviet era. Huge though these stocks are, they are not infinite.