Russian ammo crisis: Propagandist turns on Putin over supply woes
The Russian propagandist and war blogger Egor Guzenko has loudly begun speaking about the "shell hunger" affecting Russian units in Ukraine. The problems are said to stem from Kyiv's precise and spectacular attacks. Guzenko criticized Putin at the beginning of September and spoke about "traitors in the Kremlin."
In recent weeks, Kyiv successfully attacked two massive ammunition depots in Russia. Drones fell, among other places, on the ammunition depots in Tikhoretsk in the Krasnodar Krai and in Toropets in the Tver Oblast.
"For God's sake, help! There's nothing left of the village" - pleaded the residents of the village right next to the ammunition depot in Toropets on September 18.
At this location alone, at least 33,000 short tons of ammunition stored in open warehouses and bunkers were destroyed, equivalent to a three-month supply for the Russian army.
Russians lost massive supplies
Estonian intelligence noted that as a result of just one attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on September 18, Russia lost an ammunition supply reaching 750,000 units at an average consumption of 10,000 per week.
Even then, the British Ministry of Defense emphasized that "the strikes will almost certainly cause at least short-term disruptions in Russian ammunition supplies for artillery forces as well as small arms, which are a critical resource during a war of attrition, characterized by massive shelling."
The Kremlin still pretends that nothing serious has happened. However, a Kremlin propagandist broke the silence.
- I would like to address a very important issue of shell hunger among soldiers. This is not a local issue. Now, it is felt in various directions, and again it is gaining an unhealthy trend. There are even limits in place, exceeding which is punishable - said Guzenko.
He spoke about "traitors in the Kremlin," hitting at Putin
According to Guzenko, this problem is particularly acute on frontlines where "active assault operations" are taking place. The 98th Airborne Division of the Russian Federation has this problem, as do many other units. I won't list them all because there are a lot. These problems are gaining enormous momentum today, he emphasized.
The war blogger also added that Russian arms factories "work day and night," and yet the shortages are noticeable. - Where is this ammunition going? Why is there so little of it in the army? - he asked.
At the beginning of September, Guzenko, who runs one of the leading Telegram channels called "Trzynastka," which is followed by over 300,000 subscribers, published a series of emotional videos in which he sharply criticized President Vladimir Putin, the Russian government, and the military command. The reason was the announcement of a criminal investigation for "discrediting the army" against his colleague, war correspondent Alexander Sladkov.
At that time, Guzenko accused Putin of not starting a full-scale war with Ukraine in 2014, which led to the "current situation in Ukraine." - If one grandfather had fought fairly in 2014, this whole (expletive) wouldn't have happened, and so many boys wouldn't have died. And now they are taking us prisoner and killing us - he said.
Guzenko expressed the opinion that Russia is "captured by traitors," who currently "sit in the Kremlin." He reminded that the authorities put “inconvenient" citizens behind bars, citing the example of Igor Girkin (Strelkov), sentenced for extremism, the former commander of separatist forces in Donbas who started the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Moscow considered Girkin’s comments on Telegram, calling for extremism. The former separatist leader in Donbas spoke critically about the situation in the occupied Crimea as well as the salaries of Russian soldiers from the so-called Donetsk People's Republic.
