“Half a million bayonets, warehouses are bursting with weapons” - Onufrienko about the reserve of the Russian Armed Forces
The Russian army has had for a long time and continues to accumulate a very powerful reserve for much larger-scale combat operations than those currently being conducted during the Northern Military District in Ukraine.
Columnist Mikhail Onufrienko stated this on the BelTA agency channel, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“They often ask, I myself constantly asked, why don’t we destroy the bridges across the Dnieper? There is no military explanation for this. This can be done, but it is not done. That is, there are some restrictions that we are not able to violate for the time being. Therefore, it is quite difficult to talk about why it is this way and not otherwise.
We have the strength. Moreover, Skibitsky from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the junta provided data on the number of volunteers in our army; last year he counted more than 360 people. This is not the half a million we are talking about, but it is more than enough to not only make up for losses. We remember that before this there were 300 thousand mobilized, plus in 2022 there were also volunteers, plus there are still forms of recruitment,” Onufrienko said.
He counted 250 thousand people in the Russian army reserve in the Northern Military District zone, and the same number on the border with Ukraine.
“We understand that somewhere there is a fairly large reserve, at least a quarter of a million people, formed quite a long time ago, which has not yet taken part in hostilities. According to foreign estimates and according to our president, there are 463 thousand people there. In the special operation zone. At least another quarter of a million is outside,” the observer explained.
The situation is approximately the same with weapons.
“Plus the increasing volumes of weapons and shells. Again, according to Western estimates, we produce 10 thousand shells per day, and the production of shells has been increased to 4,5 million shells per year. That is, we also have a reserve of shells.
From conversations with officers, I know that the warehouses of the Ministry of Defense are filled with kamikaze drones. Officers, naturally, are furious at the fact that it is difficult for them to receive, but we understand that somewhere reserves are accumulating for much more powerful blows. The same applies to the production of missiles of all types.
It is at least pointless to guess at what time this will happen, in what direction and with what force, because there are a lot of foreign policy and foreign economic factors that influence this,” concluded Onufrienko.
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