Lauren C. Moye, FISM News
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The U.K. Defense Ministry suggested earlier this morning that Russia has run out of Iranian-made suicide drones, but Russia has mocked that the country is undergoing a similar missile shortage.
Between late January and early February “Ukrainian armed forces reported shooting down at least 24” of the suicide drones, the intelligence bulletin reads. However, none have been spotted in Ukraine since Feb. 15.
Britain warned that Russia will likely seek a resupply, believing the drones to be “useful decoys” against Ukrainian air defenses.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 25 February 2023
Find out more about Defence Intelligence: https://t.co/dnK9iMITD3
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/vozmOE36aJ
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) February 25, 2023
Intelligence leaders have long suggested that Russia is running out of military equipment, including missiles. Just last week, a Western think tank said that Moscow had lost an estimated 50 percent of their modern tanks. This number will prove difficult to replace.
However, former Russian president and current deputy chairman of Russia’s security council Dmitry Medvedev has called the statements “funny” and delusional.
“It was funny to hear the Kyiv fantasists reasoning that ‘missiles ran out’ in Russia or ‘production stopped.’ The reality convinced them of the opposite – they still cannot get over the shock,” Medvedev said in a National Defense article.
According to Medvedev, production had expanded, including the latest technologies, while factories are “fully coping.”
“Incidentally, we have also studied enemy weapons quite well, which were taken as trophies and dismantled to the last screw at our military construction bureau,” Medvedev added. “We extracted a lot of useful things for ourselves – we turned the enemy’s experience to our own advantage.”
Medvedev’s recent statements are especially outspoken considering the notable silence of current Russian President Vladimir Putin on the anniversary of the war. This outspokenness has led to think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) to claim that Medvedev has been tapped to publicly target Western military support for Ukraine as a way of diverting attention from Russia’s military failures.
“The Kremlin did not comment on the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, likely because Russia has failed to achieve any of its stated objectives and has not made significant territorial gains since July 2022,” the latest press report from ISW reads.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commemorated the one-year milestone on Friday. The U.S. and other allies are pushing for a new round of sanctions on Russia to increase pressure on the nation and to deplete their war arsenal.
“We now have the most far-reaching sanctions ever – depleting Russia’s war arsenal and biting deep into its economy,” said European Union Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Another European Union official said the sanctions would increase “until Ukraine is liberated from the brutal Russian aggression.”
Despite these sanctions, the war continues.
.@ZelenskyyUa
Evil is still around, and the battle continues. But we know for sure that it will end with our victory.📷Yevhenii Zavhorodnii pic.twitter.com/ujnRUl5SQ2
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 25, 2023
Although there have been no significant changes along the frontline, Russia continues to push ground attacks around Bakhmut and the Donetsk Oblast front line.
In the past 48 hours, the Kremlin has also initiated what appears to be another false flag campaign, this time claiming that Ukrainian forces are preparing to invade Transnistria. This nation declared independence from Moldova in 1990 but is still internationally viewed as an autonomous territorial unit of the Republican of Moldova.
There is a Russian peacekeeping contingent located in Transnistria, and the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Feb. 24 that Russia will consider any action that destabilizes Transnistrian security to be an attack against Russia.
“The Kremlin may instead aim to destabilize Moldova, however,” ISW stated.
Moldova has denied that Ukraine claims to attack the country, calling it instead a “psyops” of Russia.
“The defense ministry believes it is an element of a psychological operation rather than a real plan,” said Moldova State Secretary Valeriu Mija.