This cannot be proven and can be argued against as the situation Ukraine is deteriorating further and further. You could not provide me with single piece of evidence that Russia is running a war economy. The last report I read states that Russia is running an MIC at 8.7% GDP. We know it is not running a war economy or undergoing a full scale mobilization. We know life is very normal inside of Russia. We know the people inside Russia are free to spend their money on anything they want to buy, run their private businesses freely, travel, post on social media, debate freely etc. We know their store shelves are fully stocked and there are hundreds of channels out there on social media that walk through Russian cities to demonstrate how calm and quiet the Russian lives are. Some famous figures out there such as Alex Christoforu, Tucker Carlson, and Scott Ritter have toured Russia to demonstrate the this fact. We know Ukraine is kidnapping people off the streets, some too young, some too old. We also know Ukrainian cities constantly receive strikes, but Russian cities on the other hand, are not. We know Russians volunteer to join the conflict. We have no videos of Russians being abducted, beaten up, and thrown into battle against their wishes. I could go on and on about the differences between the two, but you get my point.
I am neither a propagandist nor a liar or a fanatic. I watch news and read reports like any other human being and I do not make unverifiable claims. Russia is a nuclear power that has a space industry as old as space industries go. Russia produces everything from cars to ships, planes, satellites, silicone chips, CNC machines including 5-axis and 3D modelling software. You name it, they make it. Our friend
@gelgoog has made numerous posts regarding how technologically advanced Russia is. You can check these posts out and verify them for yourself at the Russian military news, reports, data, etc. thread. I am sure you will be impressed.
Russia is testing the T-14 on the battlefield to my understanding, but they are already in a conflict, and they want to go with the most efficient path in order to achieve victory, so mass producing the Armata and developing new tactics to use them before verifying the tech is not a good idea at all. Instead, the Russian MOD opt to modernize old tanks by adding all the bells and whistles such as optical suites, modern FCS, more powerful engines, thermal sights, ERA etc. The old tanks end up being just as good as the new ones and can be produced much faster and for less money since the tanks and the infrastructure already exist. This is how things work when you are not running a for profit privatized MIC.
The Russian MOD still receives new batches of Su-35, Su-34, and Su-57. We don't know how many as these numbers are not published for obvious reasons. We know the Su-57 has a new engine, the Izdilye-30, that is being tested and is nearing mass production. We know Russia is constructing many ships, small and large, including around 6 of the new Admiral Gorshkov frigate variants last time I checked, maybe even more by now.
We know from Western report Russia produces millions of shells per year. Here is a quick example.
I used a Western example intentionally since you don't believe Russian reports. The article states that the US aims to produce 100,000 shells by the end of 2025, while Russia currently produces between 3 to 4.5 million per year, so even by 2025, the US will not even come close to the Russian production numbers of today. It is worth mentioning that I have read more articles regarding Russian production numbers being closer to 7 million shells annually, but I don't want to spend too much time looking for these articles.
You make a point about projects not being on time, but this is not sufficient enough to discredit the Russian MIC. These are complicated projects and Russia is a massive country busy with a conflict and sanctions and reconfiguration of economy from West to East, so delayed projects are a normal side effect. Many MIC projects worldwide end up being delayed and overbudget.
The equipment in the video you posted prove nothing other than the fact that Russia was a good paying customer that the West has lost. I'm sure China can supply all these equipment should Russia find itself unable to meet the demand domestically.
There is nothing wrong with Russia buying equipment from allies and strengthening ties with them while stockpiling ammunitions just in case the conflict escalates into a regional or even a world war. Ukraine has
received donations of over 500bn USD worth of equipment from over 50 countries, so why can't Russia
purchase equipment from its allies? Why is that forbidden?
We recently had the IMF upgrade the Russian economy to the 4th place behind India and ahead of Japan. Here is the article
You can also read the IMF report if you have that much time on your hand, but the Russian economy is far more successful than you think.
So to summarize, I made no claims I can't back up and I used Western sources here just so you are satisfied. Should you feel like it, you can do more research on your own time.
