ELLIE COOK
Russia's military industry is "hopelessly outmatched" by Western countries providing military aid to Ukraine, a new analysis has said.
"The balance of overall available resources and industrial capacity is decisively weighted toward the West" over Moscow, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said in its daily assessment on Saturday.
"Russian military industrial potential is, in fact, hopelessly outmatched by Western military industrial potential," the think tank added.
Russia's ability to wage war in Ukraine has long been the focus of Western analysis, with sanctions targeting Moscow's military-industrial complex.
Speaking on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country's military production would be boosted in the coming years, comparing Moscow to the Western economies providing aid to Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin talks during the Russian-Chinese talks at the Grand Kremlin Palace, on March 21, 2023 in Moscow, Russia. Putin said on Saturday that Russia would be increasing military production of tanks and ammunition in the next few years.CONTRIBUTOR/GETTY IMAGESPutin said Russia would produce and upgrade a total of 1,600 modern tanks within the next three years, as well as tripling production of ammunition.
He also claimed Ukraine uses 5,000 shells every day, with the U.S. producing between 14,000 and 15,000 each month.
The Kremlin leader's comments, arguing that the West cannot keep up with current aid to Ukraine, was intended to "create the false impression" that supporting Ukraine is "futile," the ISW said.
Yet Putin's comments are "not supportable," the ISW argued, saying the U.S. and other Western countries would face economic decisions about large quantities of military aid, "but the choices they face are nothing like as hard as those confronting Russia."
These Western nations do not need to adopt a "wartime footing" to back Kyiv, which is what Moscow must do to keep up its current military operations, the think tank continued.
Putin's comments "do not reflect current Russian realities or the balance of economic power or military industrial capacity between Russia and the collective West," according to the ISW.
Back in January, Putin said Russia would be ramping up its military production, telling employees of a factory in St. Petersburg that victory was "inevitable" and "assured."
Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and current deputy chairman of Russia's security council, said the following month that Moscow would bolster its modern tank production in response to main battle tank deliveries from Western countries to Kyiv.
"It is clear that in this case, it is natural for us to increase production of various armaments including modern tanks," he said on February 9.
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