Safety margin for scrap metal: Petr Chernik assessed the level of the Russian military-industrial complex

The British said that the Russians had begun to produce more equipment and were able to fill their warehouses. Surprisingly, for some reason they do not send this equipment to the front.

Military expert, reserve colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Petr Chernik told 24 Channel that he does not share the opinion of the British. At the beginning of the war with Ukraine, the Russians had between 15 and 20 thousand of a wide variety of scrap metal in their warehouses, and they could actually send about 7 thousand armored vehicles to the front. But they can’t do anything new.

Use WWII weapons

Using the cannibalism method, Russians take three or four cars, from which they can make one full-fledged one. But the T-90 is the only tank that they can produce in quantities of 20 – 25 units per month and up to 300 per year. But this is nothing given the type of war they are now waging.

The same applies to artillery: they still have up to 10 thousand of a wide variety of “trunks” in their warehouses. They even reached the weapons of the Second World War – both D-44 and D-1, and even the very rare 130 caliber at one time,” noted the military expert.

He added that the Russians have problems with the shells themselves: the production level has been raised by 30%, but they cannot overcome this level. There are also problems with explosives – they produce something, but not in such huge volumes as they would like.

Replaced potential

“In terms of aviation, last year we delivered only 6 Su-34 units. And in the month of February, we shot down somewhere around 10 such aircraft. These are very serious indicators,” emphasized Pyotr Chernik.

In his opinion, the enemy cannot be underestimated, since they have a margin of safety both in scrap metal and in people, namely, up to 3 million reservists and more than 100 million Kalashnikov assault rifles, which were produced by the previous empire. This is a figure that is difficult to comprehend, but this huge potential is being eaten up, crushed by Ukrainian troops and is slowly moving down.

V There may come a time in this dry weather cycle when Vladimir Putin shouts a truce. And, after all, he already did it recently. “We understand that the weaker one is asking for a truce,” Chernik concluded.

Enemy losses: latest news

• Since May 10, when the Russian invaders began their offensive in the Kharkov direction, on this section of the front alone they lost more than 700 people and 125 units of enemy weapons and military equipment.
• On May 13, Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian Su-25 aircraft in the Donetsk region. Also in the east, the Ka-52 Alligator helicopter was destroyed.
• On the night of May 16, the Belbek military airfield near Sevastopol was attacked, which resulted in several fires. The Russians began to complain that their Pe-ve-o had to be shot down by ATACMS. At the beginning of April, there were 30 Russian planes and helicopters at this airfield.
• As of May 16, 1,520 occupiers and about 90 units of military equipment were successfully eliminated.