Russia continues to bet on demothballing old armored vehicles - defense intel
That’s according to Andrii Yusov, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, who spoke on the air of the national telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"As far as defense industrial output production is concerned, objectively the enemy is trying to mobilize as much as possible for such production to sustain the invasion forces. In some areas, they have certain achievements, and in some they don’t. If we are talking about the production of modern equipment, in particular, armored vehicles, here the bid remains on demothballing and modernizing older models," he noted.
As for missile production, a certain level of output is maintained, which is a problem for Ukraine, thanks to, sanctions evasion, including smuggling and other shady schemes, the official noted.
"As for the situation of the economy and defense production in Russia, sanctions are working. And the sanctions can be different – economic ones, introduced by our partners, and those in the form of ‘blasts,’” Yusov added, hinting at Ukraine’s long-range strikes inside Russia.
When asked where Russia hides what’s left of its Black Sea naval fleet, the spokesman said it was primarily Novorossiysk.
"They are trying to strengthen the base as much as possible. But not only that. They are regularly engaged in moving and redeploying,” noted the GUR representative.
Answering the question of whether it took a long time for defense intelligence to identify Russian servicemen responsible for Iskander ballistic strikes targeting Kharkiv and Sumy regions, Yusov noted that these are always lengthy operations when it comes to identification.
"This is serious work of intelligence operatives, analysts, etc. All data are extremely important. The enemy must understand that evil will not remain unpunished and anonymous," he said.
As reported, Ukrainian intelligence is monitoring the ongoing construction of Russian fortifications around Mariupol.
