A top Kremlin propagandist has called for citizens to spend two hours after their working day to help produce ammunition for the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled media organization RT, made the comment during a state TV broadcast. An excerpt was posted on Twitter Sunday by Julia Davis, founder of the Russian Media Monitor watchdog group.
"Meanwhile in Russia: head of RT Margarita Simonyan acknowledges that ammo shortages are very real. She proposes that after completing their workday, all citizens should travel to military factories and make ammunition for 2 hours per day to help out," tweeted Davis.
Simonyan's remarks clash with comments made by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu—he said earlier this month that Russia's Armed Forces have received "enough ammunition to inflict effective fire damage on the enemy" this year. Meanwhile, Wagner Group founder and financier Yevgeny Prigozhin has repeatedly accused military leadership of depriving his fighters of ammunition.
"'Shell hunger' unquestionably exists. Not everywhere, but it exists. This shouldn't be happening. There should be enough ammo for everyone: the Wagnerites, the Defense Ministry and all units with surplus, so they don't have to think about it," said Simonyan.
The head of the state-run RT channel then compared Russia's lack of ammunition to "hereditary diseases" that "pass from one generation to the next."
Simonyan said: "In the war of 1812, the Crimean War, WWI [World War I]... we've been dealing with this basically in every war. Just from what has been publicly announced, there has been more than one firing of the people responsible for supplying the army. We hope that, as a result of these firings and changes, someone will come who can fix it in a way that we don't have to keep hearing about it."
Simonyan added that Russian citizens should spend some time each day to help out with the country's ammunition shortage in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its 15th month.
"Our guys are risking their lives and blood every day," Simonyan said. "We're sitting here at home. If our industry is not keeping up, let's all get a grip! Ask anyone. Aren't we all ready to come help for two hours after work?"
She appeared to criticize Defense Ministry officials for telling the public that Russia is well stocked for the war.
"They say that everything is fine. If you ask military correspondents, it's not really fine, or far from fine. Let's remove this out of our political discourse. We, the people, are ready to help," Simonyan said.
"There are dozens of countries that are supplying ammunition to one poor Zelensky. We should remember that we're standing alone," she added. "Every time we're outraged, publicly or privately, and we want to get indignant, we should remember whom we're fighting, and why."
Shoigu said in a meeting with Russia's top military officials on May 2 that Russia had taken the necessary steps to expand the production of weapons and military equipment for the supply of the country's forces in the war.
Russian troop success on the frontlines would "largely depend on the timely replenishment of weapons" and other military equipment. "The country's leadership has set defense enterprises the task of increasing the pace and volume of production in a short time," Shoigu said.
The British Ministry of Defence (MOD) wrote on the same day that logistics problems remain at the heart of Russia's "struggling campaign" in Ukraine.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's defense ministry for comment via email.
Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.
"TV" - Google News
May 22, 2023 at 03:28PM
https://ift.tt/RUHVr1z
Russian TV Host Calls for Citizens to Help Produce Ammunition After Work - Newsweek
"TV" - Google News
https://ift.tt/RIQtkDK
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Russian TV Host Calls for Citizens to Help Produce Ammunition After Work - Newsweek"
Post a Comment