Russia Ramps Up Production of all Types of Weapons — Official

Dmitry Medvedev addressed Russia's opponents and advised them not to hope that the country would run out of armaments

© Marina Moldavskaya/TASS

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/. Russia is boosting production of all types of weapons from tanks and guns to high-precision missiles and drones, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.

"The production of weapons and special equipment of all types is increasing manyfold: from tanks and guns to high-precision missiles and drones. Brace yourself!" he said on Telegram.

The politician addressed Russia's opponents and advised them not to hope that the country would run out of armaments.

"When reading enemy analyses, I have repeatedly come across allegations that Russia will soon run out of military equipment and widely-used weapons. Like, everything was used up. Don’t hold your breath," he said.

The official said that under orders from the commander-in-chief, Russian President Vladimir Putin, he traveled to Nizhny Tagil and inspected the production of tanks at the Uralvagonzavod corporation, the largest producer of armored vehicles in that area.

According to Medvedev, discussions took place during the trip about the issues of accelerating shipments of equipment to the armed forces to use during the special military operation and fixing existing problems.

"The goal has been set for a scrupulous execution of the government’s defense contracts in all of its key parameters, prevention of disruptions in the supply of equipment," he said. "Attention has been drawn to the fact that all contractors could be held to account, including on criminal charges, and requests have been accepted for ministries and other agencies that are in charge of government contracts. Supervision over the execution will continue."

Ukraine should suspend NPPs for safety reasons — expert

Renat Karchaa also stressed that the power supply of nuclear power plants themselves could also become a problem

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/. It is expedient for Ukraine to suspend the operation of nuclear power plants from the standpoint nuclear safety in the conditions of damaged power infrastructure, Rosenergoatom concern CEO’s adviser, Renat Karchaa, told TASS on Monday.

"From the point of view of nuclear safety standards, yes, it would be expedient to suspend them," he said, while answering a corresponding question. At the same time, Karchaa expressed doubts that the Ukrainian authorities were guided by the concept of expediency.

He stressed that in case of damage to the infrastructure that receives electricity from nuclear power plants, there was a risk of the reactor’s overheating.

"This is extremely dangerous. The generated energy must be consumed. It goes through high-voltage power lines. If the lines are damaged, there is a risk of the reactor’s overheating. In a situation where power lines are broken and there are no channels of removing the generated energy, the nuclear reactor must be shut down," Karchaa said, adding that in the event of damage to power lines that transmit energy from nuclear power plants, the decision to shut down the reactor must follow without delay.

Karchaa also stressed that the power supply of nuclear power plants themselves could also become a problem.

"The process of cooling down a nuclear reactor requires stable and normal power supply. When it is not available, it may be possible to cool down a nuclear reactor using only diesel generators. But huge risks are involved. Diesel generators are a very unstable - what if something breaks down in the process?" he said.

Earlier, the last operating power unit of the Zaporozhye NPP, located in the part of the Zaporozhye Region that has become part of Russia, was stopped due to shellings by the Ukrainian army and systematic damage to power lines. There are currently three nuclear power plants in Ukraine.

Ukrainian army loses 1,400 troops in one week — Russian Defense Ministry

It is reported that the enemy sustained the greatest losses in manpower and materiel in the Nikolaev-Krivoi Rog area

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/. The Russian Armed Forces have eliminated more than 1,400 Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries over the past week, according to TASS calculations based on daily briefings by Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

The enemy sustained the greatest losses in manpower and materiel in the Nikolaev-Krivoi Rog area.

TASS has summarized the key statistics concerning Russia’s special military operation for October 17 to October 23.

Strikes against Ukraine's critical infrastructure

The Russian Defense Ministry throughout last week said massive strikes continued against Ukrainian military command and energy facilities. On October 18 and 19, the designated targets were hit by high-accuracy long-range sea and air-launched weapons, and on October 20 and 23 by air-launched missiles.

In addition, high-accuracy weapons of the Aerospace Force hit the workshops of the Kommunar defense plant in Kharkov, where warheads for the Neptun anti-ship missiles produced there were destroyed. The enemy also lost several fuel storage facilities, including an oil tank farm with 56,000 tons of diesel fuel of the Dnepr joint group of forces and a fuel depot with more than 100,000 tons of aircraft fuel for the Ukrainian Air Force.

Losses in manpower

The Ukrainian army suffered the most significant losses in manpower in the Nikolaev and Krivoi Rog area. The Ukrainian side lost over 800 troops and mercenaries of the Foreign Legion during repeated unsuccessful attempts to attack Russian positions. Ukraine’s armed forces lost about 300 men in the Krasny Liman area and more than 160 in the Kupyansk area. In the southern Donetsk area, the Russian army eliminated over 80 enemy soldiers, and in the Zaporozhye area more than 40.

In another attempt to land troops on the left bank of the Kakhovka reservoir with the aim to capture the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the enemy lost more than 90 servicemen and 14 boats.

In the vicinity of the city of Zaporozhye, Russian aircraft and missile forces and artillery destroyed the command post of Ukraine’s united group of troops Dnepr.

Losses in materiel

In the Nikolaev and Krivoi Rog area, the enemy made several attempts to break through the Russian defenses. A tank battalion was used in one of such attempts. During last week, 20 tanks, 66 armored combat vehicles, and 70 other vehicles were destroyed in this area. The Russian forces seized two tanks, one infantry fighting vehicle and one mine clearing vehicle UR-77.

In the Krasny Liman area, the enemy lost 6 tanks, 23 armored combat vehicles, 9 armored personnel carriers and 17 other vehicles. In the Kupyansk area, the Russian forces destroyed 3 tanks, 7 armored combat vehicles, 8 armored personnel carriers and 9 vehicles. In the Zaporozhye and southern Donetsk area, Ukrainian troops lost 5 tanks, 16 combat armored vehicles and 13 other vehicles.

In addition, 4 counter-battery radars AN/TPQ-36, AN/TPQ-37 and AN/TPQ-50 of US manufacture, 4 launchers of the S-300 air defense missile system and a low-altitude target detection radar ST-68UM were destroyed.

In just one week, Ukraine’s armed forces lost 165 tanks and other armored vehicles, as well as over 120 other vehicles of various types.

Aviation, air defense and artillery’s targets hit

Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile and artillery units, and air defenses of the Russian army destroyed Ukraine’s Sukhoi-25 and MiG-29 planes, one Mi-8 helicopter, as well as 24 warehouses of ammunition, weapons and military equipment.

A high accuracy strike by Russia’s Aerospace Force destroyed a hangar with Ukrainian foreign-made military equipment near Novaya Kamenka, in the Kherson Region.

As a result of counter-battery operations, Russian artillery wiped out several Ukrainian artillery batteries, platoons of the multiple launch rocket systems Uragan and Olkha and US MLRS HIMARS.

Russian air defense systems shot down 70 unmanned aerial vehicles of various types, and 98 HIMARS, Olkha and Smerch MLRS rockets, as well as 14 US-made HARM anti-radar missiles were intercepted in flight.