The work of the military industry is named the most important factor in the victory

President Vladimir Putin called the work of the military-industrial complex (DIC) one of the factors for victory in a special military operation, talking on January 18 with workers at the Obukhov plant in St. Petersburg (North-Western branch of the Almaz-Antey aerospace defense concern). “We, for example, produce more than 3 times more air defense missiles that you produce per year than in the United States. And in general, our defense industry produces about the same amount of air defense missiles for various purposes per year as all the military-industrial enterprises of the world produce,” Putin said.

As Vedomosti wrote, the president came to the city to take part in the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the breaking of the siege of Leningrad.

According to the president, “from the point of view of <...> victory, which is inevitable, there are several things that have not gone away and that underlie our victory”: “This is the unity and cohesion of the Russian and, in general, the multinational Russian people. This is the courage and heroism of our fighters in the framework of a special military operation and on the front line. And, of course, the work of the military-industrial complex, enterprises like yours, and people like you, and the entire economy.” The decision to start hostilities was difficult but inevitable, Putin said, calling the ruling Ukrainian regime neo-Nazi.

Answering a question from one of the workers, Putin said that the issue of granting a deferment from conscription for military-industrial complex workers is being studied and can be resolved in the near future, given that “the defense industry is now loaded, and taking into account the fact that you work in three shifts. At the same time, he recalled that defense industry workers in the reserve have a deferment from partial mobilization (announced on September 21, 2022), and in general, in the Russian economy, “as the Ministry of Defense reported, about 830,000 people have such a delay.”

According to the top manager of the defense industry enterprise, there are few young people of pre-conscription age in the defense industry. Such a decision by the president will encourage young people to go into the defense industry, they can be covered with additional on-the-job training. On the same day, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, at a meeting of the coordinating council for meeting the needs of the Armed Forces, stated that “according to the preliminary results, the plans [2022 г.] for the production of military, aviation and automotive equipment, rocket-artillery and armored weapons, armor protection equipment and all-weather field uniforms for supplying troops. What was not delivered to the troops in accordance with the tasks approved last year should be delivered before February 2023, Mishustin said.

The pace of arms production is growing, but they cannot grow by an order of magnitude in a few months to fully equip the formations created after partial mobilization and at the same time make up for losses, says a source in the defense industry. The preparation and equipping of many units continues, says Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine.