Putin calls on Russian companies to prepare to step up military production
Russian President Vladimir Putin urged his country’s enterprises, regardless of the form of ownership, to prepare for an increase in military production. He made a statement to this effect on November 22 during a meeting with the leaders of the Russian Defense Ministry, Defense and Industrial Complex, and the heads of various ministries and regions.
“The economy’s ability to quickly increase the quantities of defensive production and services at the right time is one of the most important conditions for ensuring the country’s military security. All strategic and simply all major enterprises need to be ready for this, regardless of the form of ownership,” the Kremlin’s press service cites Putin as saying.
He instructed companies to work on “additional measures to increase mobilization readiness”. Putin also requested the last few years’ results on “the modernization of production capabilities, the formation of a reserve of material and technical resources, and ensuring the transport of forces”.
The Russian president demanded a report on the results of the Zapad 2017 autumn military exercises, which were held on Russian and Belarusian territory. During the drills, the Russians and Belarusians fought off the fictitious armies of western countries. NATO said that the maneuvers are evidence that Russia is preparing for a “large war”.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Zapad 2017 exercises involved roughly 13 000 military personnel. NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said that the number of military personnel and the geography of the exercises significantly exceeded the parameters given by Moscow.