Ukraine’s Zelenskyy sees ‘clear signs’ of slowdown in Russian defense industry

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday there were “clear signs of a slowdown” in Russia’s defense industry and called for further action to eliminate loopholes in sanctions imposed on Moscow.

Zelenskyy, speaking in his nightly video address, provided no evidence for his assertion on the state of the Russian defense industry. Russian officials have said that production of military equipment has been stepped up.

“There are clear signs of a slowdown in Russia’s defense industry,” Zelenskyy said. “But for the results of sanctions to be 100 percent, sanctions loopholes must also be blocked 100 percent.”

Sergei Chemezov, the head of Russian state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec, told President Vladimir Putin last month that production of many fundamental items of equipment had risen significantly over the last two years.

In comments appearing on the Kremlin website, Chemezov said production of small arms and artillery ammunition had increased by a factor of 50, production of light armored vehicles by five and a half times and tanks sevenfold.