Mobilized Russians Given 'Barely Usable' Guns in Ukraine, U.K. Says

Russian troops being sent to fight in Ukraine are being issued firearms that are "barely useable," while some troops are even reporting for duty without weapons, according to a report from British intelligence.

On Monday, the U.K. Ministry of Defense posted its daily update on the state of the war in Ukraine, tweeting: "Russia has deployed several thousand newly mobilized reservists to the front line in Ukraine since mid-October. In many cases, they are poorly equipped. In September, Russian officers were concerned that some recently mobilized reservists were arriving in Ukraine without weapons."

"Open source images suggest that those rifles which have been issued to mobilized reservists are typically AKMs, a weapon first introduced in 1959. Many are likely in barely usable condition following poor storage," the ministry continued.

The AKMs being issued to the new troops arriving in Ukraine fire 7.62mm ammunition while regular Russian combat troops are generally issued AK-74M or AK-12 rifles that use 5.45mm ammunition.

"The integration of reservists with contract soldiers and combat veterans in Ukraine will mean Russian logisticians will have to push two types of small arms ammunition to front line positions, rather than one. This will likely further complicate Russia's already strained logistics systems," the ministry said.

Alex Kokcharov, principal research analyst, country risk at S&P Global Market Intelligence, pointed out that there had been several reports that the newly mobilized Russian troops are sent to Ukraine with little training, basic equipment and older weapons.

"The Russian Ministry of Defense appears to have very outdated approaches to provision and supply of the military units," Kokcharov told Newsweek. "Absence of newer weapons is likely linked to widespread corruption in Russia, including in the armed forces.

"As a result, Russian forces are likely to experience high casualty levels in Ukraine. High attrition will also negatively impact morale levels. Ultimately it will mean that the Russian forces will be at suboptimal levels of combat readiness," he added.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) predicted that Russia will continue its offensive on the ground in Ukraine "well into 2023" by dispatching poorly-trained troops onto the frontlines and trying to use the harsh winter to break Europe's will to support Ukraine.

The war began in February when Russian troops invaded Ukraine in what Russian President Vladimir Putin called a "special military operation." Although Russia has made some significant gains in the east and in the south of the country, a Ukrainian counteroffensive has slowed Russia's progress and, in some places, has forced it to retreat from areas it captured early in the conflict.