Russia's Defense Minister urges faster artillery production

Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has told military manufacturers to "stop fooling around" and further increase the production of self-propelled artillery systems.

Shoigu visited arms-producing factories in the Urals industrial city of Yekaterinburg on Tuesday and said Russia was increasing production of air defense missiles after a series of Ukrainian drone attacks that have targeted cities and energy infrastructure.

In a video published by news site RBC on Wednesday from Shoigu's factories tour, he admonished the management of one plant for not producing enough self-propelled artillery.

"Listen, stop fooling around here, guys. We got busy with this in 2022. We should have had these machines operating at full capacity in 2023," he told the plant's bosses.

"I'd like to receive within a week a specific proposal on how we'll reach the indicators set by the president (Vladimir Putin) ... this must be done because all these orders are connected with the performance of particular work on the battlefield," he said.

The director said the factory had increased production six-fold in the last two years.

Russia has placed its economy on a war footing and shifted defense plants to round-the-clock production to meet the needs of its forces in Ukraine.

Its defense industry will supply the army with "several times" more military equipment this year than in 2022 and 2023, Interfax news quoted Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko as saying this month.

Reuters