Ukraine: Russia planning 'particularly cruel' action says Zelensky

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According to Latvian outlet Insider, sanctions on Russia, combined with successful counteroffensives by Ukrainian troops, have led to rapid declines in Russia’s weapons stockpiles. It said the country’s ability to conduct air strikes and fire-guided missile strikes are likely to be exhausted in the coming months. Insider estimated the Russian military will run out of weaponry by the end of the year.

Last month, defence expert Larisa Brown said Russian forces were struggling to replenish their artillery stock, unlike Ukraine which has been continuously receiving large shipments of weapons from the West.

Ms Brown outlined a new report showing how easy it was for Ukrainian defence forces to take Russian military kits out with their heavy-duty weaponry.

She also noted the importance of Ukrainian soldiers being trained by Britain, as the UK pledged to train thousands of more Ukrainian troops.

Ms Brown told Times Radio: “By next year, Russia will be struggling quite a lot, they won’t be able to replenish a lot of their stock, they won’t have the manpower whereas Ukraine will be getting more and more Western kit.

“And they’ve obviously got the Ukrainian soldier being trained in Britain at the moment, and they’re planning to train thousands more.”

Earlier this year, chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told Express.co.uk that the Russian army is “down to low stocks of weapons” as a result of sanctions on Russia.

The expert said that the sanctions mean few countries will sell “sophisticated weaponry” to Putin.

He said: “The challenge is going to be that the most sophisticated weaponry requires some pretty high tech and high tech is sanctioned.

“I think it’s very interesting because apart from the early days of the war, we haven’t seen many high-tech [weapons].

“The precision strike missiles, the cruise missiles, all this – they’re getting fewer and far between.

“I think on this sophisticated weaponry, he’s probably down to low stocks.”

Mr de Bretton-Gordon added: “He will have a lot of artillery shells and a lot of tank shells, but those tanks and artillery are just being decimated by the Ukrainians.

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“He can have as many tank shells as he likes but if he’s got no tanks to fire them that’s a fat lot of good.”

This comes as Russia continues to take heavy losses in its war against Ukraine.

Putin’s forces have suffered humiliating losses, with Kyiv claiming to have killed as many as 44,000 soldiers and destroyed 1,800 tanks.

The Russian army has so far made limited progress in the war, which has now passed the six-month mark.

Last month, Western allies marked the war’s six-month milestone by announcing further military support for Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden pledged $2.98 billion (£2.5bn) for “air defence systems, artillery systems and munitions, counter-unmanned aerial systems, and radars.”

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised £54 million more in weaponry on a visit to Kyiv.

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