A video appeared on the network of how the Russian army was carrying a D-1 howitzer. These were produced in 1943-1947. Military expert Oleg Zhdanov said in an interview with UNIAN whether ammunition is running out in Russia
"The Russian army has big problems. We all the time nod at Western analysts and say that they said that the Russian army is the second in the world, and the whole world believed it. The fact is that no one took into account the wars that the Russian Federation has waged over these 30 years, starting with the two Chechen wars. Moreover, in the Second Chechen War, ammunition consumption was simply unlimited. Then there was a war in Georgia and Syria, clashes in Libya, and then a war in Ukraine. Think back to the first few months. They followed a scorched earth policy where thousands of tons of ammunition were used up in short periods of time. And now a situation arises when, according to the reports of the Main Rocket and Artillery Directorate, millions of tons of ammunition are in warehouses. Still, no one says that they are old. These are the weapons of the Second World War and the post-war period. And modern ammunition today is already in limited quantities.
When conducting counter-offensive operations, we seize ammunition depots and see that 122 mm shells are dated 2022. The fire actually comes from the assembly line.
Howitzers D-1 (1943) in a terrible state. During the training program in the second year of the artillery school, we took ZIS-3 guns to the Zhytomyr training ground. It is presented in some historical documents as a "weapon of victory". It was the most massive gun, which performed the tasks of an anti-tank weapon, and fought in the forefront. We received ammunition from a 1943 warehouse. And that was 1984. The boxes rotted and fell apart in their hands. The charges were rusty; the shells were completely oxidized. But I can tell you that there were practically no misfires. All shells were fired from these guns.
In the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, we sorted out racks with ammunition every year, took out shells that were 25 years old and took them to the firing range for detonation. Security measures consider that after 25 years, they are not suitable for use. But today, Russia is resorting to any means to ensure its firepower."
