The Kremlin continues to take steps to mobilize the Russian military-industrial base (OPB), which is experiencing difficulties. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin himself acknowledged the shortage of qualified OPB workers.

This is discussed in the current report of analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). It is noted that in this way the Kremlin is preparing for a long war against Ukraine.

The Russian authorities are continuing measures to mobilize the Russian defense industrial base for a protracted war, including measures that would force the Kremlin to choose between skilled workers in the defense industrial base and skilled military personnel fighting in Ukraine, analysts stressed.

Putin makes “raids” on defense enterprises

Putin, during a March 14 visit to an aircraft factory in Ulan-Ude in Buryatia, said that the military-industrial base lacked adequately trained personnel and announced a series of reforms aimed at attracting more specialists to work in military factories, including the redistribution of federal assets for housing and wage increases

In turn, the head of the defense ministry of the aggressor country, Sergei Shoigu, during a visit to the Tactical Missiles Corporation in the Moscow Region, called on the plant to double production even after announcing that the enterprise had fulfilled the requirements of the state defense order.

Defense is a priority

Putin also said that the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade had prepared a list of unspecified occupations that would receive a deferment from military service, which may indicate the Kremlin is prioritizing the use of skilled workers in the production of Russian weapons over trained soldiers in the Russian military.

Analysts also recalled that Russian news agencies wrote that the Russian Ministry of Finance is also considering the possibility of issuing war bonds.

In Russia, problems with the “defense industry”: briefly

• Earlier, the SBU of Ukraine reported that Russian defense enterprises have significantly reduced their hiring requirements and are now accepting workers with no experience and with a history of drug use, a criminal record and bankruptcy.
• ISW has already reported on Russia's attempts to “rejuvenate” its defense industry in the face of labor shortages and Western sanctions and, as a result, the lack of success in this endeavor.
• Russia is still producing high-tech weapons: new missiles and drones, despite the sanctions. This happens because the existing restrictions are not enough.