Russian army base scrambling for Ukraine war supplies, locals and soldiers say

The town of Valuyki in Western Russia has become a crucial staging post in the latest phase of Russia’s war over the nearby border in Ukraine. Throughout last month, helicopters buzzed overhead, military vehicles clogged the roads, and soldiers prepared for combat at a huge military base there.

It’s also a place where soldiers’ relatives and private citizens are working to provide supplies and equipment for troops based near the town to address shortages, including drones, radios and heat-detecting rifle sights, according to six volunteers and three soldiers Reuters spoke to, as well as a review of social media channels volunteers use to coordinate efforts.

Among them is Olga Lukina, a local resident who said her husband serves in a non-combat role in a Russian military reconnaissance unit. She told Reuters some reconnaissance units were short of drones and night-vision equipment, in particular, while other units fighting in Ukraine “need food, diesel, somewhere to wash themselves and wash their clothes”.

British military intelligence and the Pentagon, in published assessments, have said Russia’s campaign has been slowed by problems with getting supplies such as food and fuel as well as essential services to its troops.

Russia has in the past few weeks established control over the Azov Sea port of Mariupol and made incremental territorial gains in the Ukrainian region of Donbas, but Western governments say that came at a high cost in men and equipment, and that Russia has failed to achieve its initial objectives.

Asked by Reuters to comment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred questions to the Defence Ministry. The ministry did not respond to detailed questions sent by Reuters.