World News | Russian Defense Minister Wants to Double Wartime Missile Production

KIEV, May 3 (AP) – Russia’s defense minister on Tuesday urged a state-owned company to double its missile production amid a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive amid reports that the 14-month war has Both sides experienced ammunition shortages.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a meeting with top military officials that the state-owned tactical missile company has been fulfilling contracts in a timely manner.

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But, Shoigu added, “it is now necessary to double the production of high-precision weapons in the shortest possible time.”

Analysts have been trying to figure out whether Russia lacks high-precision munitions as its missile barrages against Ukraine have become less frequent and smaller.

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In its assessment on Tuesday, the MoD noted that “logistical issues remain at the heart of Russia’s struggles in Ukraine.”

“Russia does not have enough ammunition to make the offensive successful,” it said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday described Washington’s latest estimate of Russia’s losses in Ukraine as “a fabrication out of thin air.”

Russia has now estimated 100,000 casualties, including more than 20,000 dead, since December as Ukraine rebuffed an onslaught by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, the White House said on Monday.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. estimate was based on newly declassified U.S. intelligence. He did not explain how the intelligence community arrived at the figure.

“Washington has no chance to give any correct figures. They don’t have such data,” Peskov said.

Late Tuesday, the Ukrainian military reported that Russian forces had carried out 30 airstrikes, three missile strikes and eight multiple rocket launchers, causing civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Russia continued to focus its offensive operations in the industrial regions of eastern Ukraine, focusing on attacks around Leman, Bakhmut, Avdivka and Malinka in the country’s Donetsk province.

The prosecutor’s office in southern Ukraine’s Kherson province reported that Russia shelled the regional capital, also known as Kherson, and several villages, killing three people and wounding five.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces say they are preparing their own counteroffensive — and stockpiling ammunition to sustain it along potentially long supply lines.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Monday that “key factors” for the success of the attack were the “availability of weapons, well-prepared and well-trained personnel, our defenders and defenders who understand their plans, and the ability to provide this offensive with all Necessary things – shells, ammunition, fuel, protection, etc.”

“As of today, we are entering the final phase, when we can say: Yes, everything is ready,” Reznikoff said in televised comments.

Russian Governor Alexander Bogomaz said late on Tuesday that an “unidentified explosive device” had derailed a freight train in Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders northern Ukraine.

Russian Railways confirmed that “illegal interference” caused the derailment of 20 carriages of the freight train. No casualties were reported.

A freight train in Bryansk was also derailed by an explosive device on Monday.

There was no immediate indication who detonated the explosives, but Bryansk was hit by sporadic cross-border shelling during the war. In March, two people were reported killed in what regional officials said was an incursion by Ukrainian saboteurs.

In recent months, in winter weather, the conflict has descended into a war of attrition that has depleted ammunition stocks.

The Kremlin’s forces targeted critical Ukrainian infrastructure with long-range strikes, while Kiev targeted Russian targets with precision artillery provided by its Western allies.

In February, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that Ukraine was consuming ammunition far faster than its allies could supply it.

By some estimates, Ukraine was firing as many as 6,000-7,000 rounds per day at the time, about a third of the number of shells Russia was using every day nearly a year into the war.

Sporadic nighttime Russian shelling continued to hit areas of Ukraine early Tuesday, officials said. Authorities said at least seven civilians were injured.

Denmark said on Tuesday it would donate 1.7 billion kroner ($251 million) in aid to Ukraine, including demining vehicles, ammunition, field bridges and money for air defence, as the Ukrainian military prepares to fight back to retake Russian territories.

Acting Danish Defense Minister Truls Lund Poulsen said: “We know that the Russians have erected ditches, minefields and other barriers in occupied Ukrainian territory to deter Ukrainian aggression.”

“Materials in donated packages are important to pave the way for Ukrainian tanks and armored infantry on the front lines.”

As Russia’s influence grows in Africa, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has visited the continent twice this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening speech, and he met Tuesday with The President of the African Union and the President of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, had a conversation.

In the updated video, Zelensky stated that he had invited Assoumani to join the implementation of Ukraine’s “peace plan” and assured Assoumani that Ukraine was “ready to be a reliable guarantor of food security.” (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)