MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the military to improve training for the newly mobilized reservists and provide them with necessary equipment and supplies.
Putin told Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday that the military needs to make sure that all 300,000 reservists who have been called up are trained and provided with what they need for combat “to make people feel confident when they need to go to combat.”
Activists, Russian media and The Associated Press have reported that many of those called up have been told to procure basic items such as medical kits and flak jackets themselves and failed to receive training before being sent to combat.
Shoigu acknowledged that “problems with supplies existed in the initial stages” but told Putin they have now been solved and the reservists have received all the necessary items.
Putin ordered Shoigu to submit his proposals for reforming the ground troops and other parts of the military on the basis of their performance in Ukraine.
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