As The New York Times report with regarding to the U.S. government report, russian military has lost 6,000 pieces of equipment since invading Ukraine and has been expending munitions at a rate it cannot replace.
The United States also began detecting that Russia was short of critical supplies for diesel engines, helicopter and aircraft engine parts and its armored tanks as early as May, according to the report. Moscow has also had trouble fulfilling its sales to foreign militaries.
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Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the United States has focused its efforts on two fronts: supplying Ukraine with significant military aid and hurting Russia economically through broad sanctions and export controls.
Russia’s ability to build sophisticated precision weapons was already being hurt by export controls, which limit Russia’s access to advanced technology. Western sanctions have also created shortages of less complex technologies. For example, Russia is experiencing a shortage of bearings, which has undermined the production and repairs of tanks, aircraft, submarines and other military systems, according to the U.S. government report.
The United States has been looking for other “choke point” technologies — like ball bearings or fasteners — that can further hamper production of military supplies, according to a senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the report’s findings.
To get past the sanctions, Russian intelligence services have been ordered “to illicitly acquire Western technology and parts,” the report said. Russia has also turned to countries like Iran and North Korea — which largely operate outside the international economic system and which are also under Western sanctions — for supplies. The United States has since placed sanctions on Iranian companies involved in making and transporting drones that were purchased by Russia for use in Ukraine.
The Treasury Department on Friday (October 14) brought together government representatives from Europe and Asia to discuss how to tighten export controls to further damage Russia’s arms industry. Morgan Muir, a senior intelligence official, presented the report at the meeting.
Leading the agenda is for the international coalition to find ways to prevent Russia from manufacturing more ammunition, as Ukrainian forces focus their attacks on ammunition depots, the senior American official said.
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