The western Russian town of Valuyki has become a critical staging point in the latest phase of Russia’s war with Ukraine. Helicopters buzzed overhead, military vehicles clogged the roads, and soldiers prepared for combat at a massive military base there last month.
According to six volunteers and three soldiers Reuters spoke with, as well as a review of social media channels volunteers use to coordinate efforts, 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, such as drones, radios, and heat-detecting rifle sights.
Among them is Lukina, a local who claims her husband works in a Russian military reconnaissance unit in a non-combat capacity. She told Reuters that some reconnaissance units, in particular, were lacking in drones and night-vision equipment, while other units fighting in Ukraine ‘need food, diesel, and somewhere to wash themselves and their clothes.’
According to published assessments by British military intelligence and the Pentagon, Russia’s campaign has been slowed by problems obtaining supplies such as food and fuel, as well as essential services for its troops. Russia has taken control of the Azov Sea port of Mariupol and made incremental territorial gains in the Ukrainian region of Donbas in recent weeks, but Western governments say it has come at a high cost.
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