Russia producing arms at volumes its adversaries ‘could not dream of’ – Rostec CEO
Russia’s defense industry is producing weapons at volumes its adversaries “could not even dream of,” Sergey Chemezov, the head of state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec, said in an interview published on Tuesday.
Chemezov told TASS news agency that Russia has sharply ramped up arms output since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022 and is now manufacturing more artillery shells and aerial bombs than any other country.
”We are supplying aircraft, tanks, infantry vehicles, howitzers, electronic warfare systems, drones and much more in enormous quantities. No country in the world today produces as many shells and aerial bombs,” he said.
”I can’t give specific figures, of course. So I will put it this way: our adversaries could not have dreamed of such volumes,” the Rostec chief added.
Russian officials have repeatedly highlighted rising defense output over the past three years. In May 2024, President Vladimir Putin said the country’s ammunition production had increased fourteenfold during the special military operation, while drone manufacturing had quadrupled and armored weapons output had risen 3.5 times.
Russia has consistently denounced Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, warning they only prolong the conflict without altering its outcome.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated on Tuesday that Russia is interested in achieving its goals “through political and diplomatic means,” saying: “We remain fully open to a negotiating process.”
However, Moscow says Kiev, “is only seeking to keep the fighting going,” encouraged by its Western backers. It has also accused the EU and UK of impeding ongoing peace efforts. The UK discouraged early peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev in 2022, according to David Arakhamia, head of Vladimir Zelensky’s parliamentary bloc and former chief negotiator, who said then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Kiev to abandon the talks, a claim Johnson has denied.
