Page 27 - RusRPTAug23

new members as it possesses sufficiently "large personnel reserves." largest decline since independence in 1991.
● Weapons
Western military products worthbns of dollars flow into Russia despite sanctions. Western military goods worthbns of dollars continue to flow into Russia despite international sanctions, the Russian independent outlet Vertska reported on July 31.
China secretly sold drones to Russia for over $100M.
According to Politico, China, despite its calls for peace, has actively increased trade in dual-purpose goods with Russia over the past year, helping Moscow, among other things, import sanctioned Western technology. According to Russian, Chinese, and Ukrainian customs data, Russia imported Chinese drones worth more than $100M this year, which is thirty-five times more than Ukraine. Also, Chinese exports of ceramics to Russia, a component used in body armor, increased by 69% to more than $225M; to Ukraine, it fell by 61% to only $5M. Imports of Chinese dual-use goods to Russia are often made through shell companies created to disguise trade activities. For example, one of them, Silva, has headquarters in Buryatia and was established in September 2022, ordered 100,000 bulletproof vests and helmets from the Shanghai company, Shanghai H Win.
The United States has made the controversial decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, despite the global ban on their use. This move is part of an $800mn military aid package from the US Department of Defence, which includes ammunition for various vehicles and artillery. Ukrainian officials have been requesting additional weaponry, including cluster munitions, for several months. American authorities reportedly said the decision to send cluster bombs was because they were running low on conventional ammunition. A year ago the US State Department condemned Russia for using cluster munitions, calling it a “war crime.”
As reported by bne IntelliNews Ukraine is running out of ammunition after the West has failed to invest into expanding its production of ammunition. Russia has made the investments and will see its production of the crucial 155mm artillery shells increase from 1.7mn rounds year to over 2mn by then end of this year. Currently Russia is firing an estimated ten-times more shells at Ukraine than the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) can fire back.
27 RUSSIA Country Report August 2023 www.intellinews.com