1. Russia's progress in Ukraine has stalled, and the head of the Wagner mercenary force has called for a total war economy to be implemented.
2. Russia has lost substantial amounts of arms and ammunition, and its high-technology precision-guided weapons require access to foreign technology that is now unavailable due to sanctions.
3. The Kremlin is redirecting significant resources to the military and related industries while trying to minimize disruption of the general economy, but a longer, more intense conflict requiring a shift to a total war economy could be challenging.
The article "How Russia is shifting to a war economy in the face of international sanctions" provides an overview of Russia's efforts to address equipment and ammunition shortages as it continues its protracted conflict with Ukraine. While the article presents some useful information, it also contains several biases and unsupported claims.
One-sided reporting is evident in the article's focus on Russia's challenges and efforts to address them, without providing a balanced view of Ukraine's military capabilities or strategies. The article also fails to explore counterarguments or potential risks associated with Russia's shift towards a total war economy.
The article relies heavily on sources that are critical of Russia, such as U.K. armed forces minister James Heappey and U.S. think tank Center for Security and International Studies, without providing alternative perspectives or sources. This creates a biased view of the situation and undermines the credibility of the article.
Additionally, the article makes several unsupported claims, such as stating that most high-tech electronic components used by the Russian military are manufactured by U.S. companies without providing evidence to support this claim. The article also suggests that international support for Ukraine may waver in the face of a global costs of living crisis without exploring other factors that could influence international support for Ukraine.
Overall, while the article provides some useful information about Russia's efforts to address equipment and ammunition shortages, its one-sided reporting, reliance on biased sources, unsupported claims, and failure to explore counterarguments or potential risks undermine its credibility and usefulness as a source of information on this topic.