Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to speed up the modernisation of ground forces “as soon as possible” in response to Ukraine’s attack on Russian airfields in early June.
Ground forces remain the dominant power in the conduct of modern military operations of any scale and intensity.
On Wednesday, Putin held a special meeting on the state armament programme for 2027-2036. The Russian leader noted the importance of enhancing combat capabilities and modernising the army “as soon as possible.” The new programme will reportedly include measures for the production, procurement, modernisation and repair of aircraft and aviation weapons.
The Russian president said that the share of modern weapons in the country’s strategic nuclear forces currently stands at 95 per cent, the highest among nuclear powers.
The modernisation of Russia’s ground forces was part of a response to Operation Spiderweb, plotted by Ukrainian security services, in which Ukrainian drones attacked airfields in Russia’s Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions.
The Ukrainian Security Service recently claimed responsibility for the attack and officially confirmed the assembly of FPV drones and specialised modular structures in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.
North Korean troops, which helped dislodge the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Kursk region in late April, may also contribute to the military potential of Russia’s ground forces. At that time, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un decided that the situation in Kursk region fell under Article 4 of the agreement with Moscow and ordered the deployment of military personnel to the combat zone in coordination with the Kremlin.
While Russian and Ukrainian delegations exchange the bodies of dead soldiers, Russia continues to modernise its army and increase military production in response to Ukraine’s attempts to derail the negotiation process, including provocative attacks on Russia’s strategic bombers ahead of the second round of talks held in Istanbul and planning covert drone strikes from cargo containers in Black Sea.
