Kremlin will have to choose between skilled defense industry workers and trained soldiers - ISW

This is stated by the Institute for the Study of War.

“Russian authorities continue measures to mobilize the struggling Russian defense industrial base (DIB) for a protracted war effort, including measures that will force the Kremlin to choose between having skilled workers in the DIB and skilled military personnel fighting in Ukraine," the analysts emphasize.

ISW notes that Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed during a March 14 visit to an aviation production plant in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia, that the DIB suffers from a lack of adequately trained personnel and announced a series of reforms to attract more specialists to work at military production plants, including the reallocation of federal assets to housing and increasing pay.

For his part, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Tactical Missile Corporation in Moscow Oblast and called on the plant to double production even after announcing that the plant had met the requirements of the state defense order.

According to ISW, Putin also announced that the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade has prepared a list of unspecified specialties to defer from military service, which may suggest that the Kremlin is prioritizing using skilled workers in the production of Russian weapons over having skilled soldiers fight in Russia’s military.

Experts recall that Russian news outlets reported that the Russian Ministry of Finance is also considering the possibility of issuing war bonds.

However, the UK Ministry of Defense assessed Putin's March 3 decree on government oversight of the DIB which sets conditions for the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade to bypass DIB managers at enterprises that fail to meet Russia’s production standards.

Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service reported that Russian defense companies have significantly lowered their hiring requirements and now accept workers with no experience and a history of drug use, criminal records, and bankruptcy.

ISW has previously reported on Russia’s struggle to “rejuvenate” its DIB amid labor shortages and Western sanctions and its ensuing lack of success in this endeavor.

• As a reminder, the Institute for the Study of War emphasized that Russian troops are building fortifications on the Russian-Ukrainian border in Kursk and Bryansk regions, probably to support information operations.