Russian soldiers may be using shovels to fight hand-to-hand in Ukraine as ammunition runs low, the UK's Ministry of Defence said.
According to an update from the MoD today (Sunday, March 4), troops on the front line were given orders to attack armed with just "firearms and shovels" late last month.
The MoD said the desperate measures "highlight the brutal and low-tech fighting" used throughout Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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"In late February 2023, Russian mobilised reservists described being ordered to assault a Ukrainian concrete strong point armed with only ‘firearms and shovels’," the update said.
"The ‘shovels’ are likely entrenching tools being employed for hand-to-hand combat.
"The lethality of the standard-issue MPL-50 entrenching tool [shovel] is particularly mythologised in Russia. Little changed since it was designed in 1869, its continued use as a weapon highlights the brutal and low-tech fighting which has come to characterise much of the war."
The MPL-50 is a small spade, about 50 cm (20 in) in length, and although it is normally used as an entrenching tool, Russian soldiers over the years have reportedly used it for numerous different purposes from combat to cooking.
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The report went on to say that soldiers themselves didn't feel like they were ready to fight, following numerous reports coming from the front line of poor leadership from commanders.
"One of the reservists described being ‘neither physically nor psychologically’ prepared for the action," the MoD continued.
"Recent evidence suggests an increase in close combat in Ukraine.
"This is probably a result of the Russian command continuing to insist on offensive action largely consisting of dismounted infantry, with less support from artillery fire because Russia is short of munitions."
The MoD stopped short of revealing which battles had been fought with shovels.
This isn't the first time Russia's lack of ammunition has landed its army in sticky situations – last month soldiers were reportedly given "unusable" shells.
Self-described independent military history author and researcher ChrisO_Wiki took to Twitter to share pictures of the allegedly futile ammo, writing: "Russia's ammunition shortage in eastern Ukraine is reportedly so severe that its troops there have reportedly been issued with completely unusable munitions, including shells which are so rusty they have simply disintegrated."
Russian oligarch and Vladimir Putin's pal Yevgeny Prigozhin blamed recent deaths of troops on the shortage of military equipment.
Posting an image of his deceased troops, the mercenary known as "Putin's chef" made a plea for Russian civilians to lend a hand and demand the Russian defence ministry give ammunition to his soldiers – but made it clear that protesting would be a step too far.
"These are the guys who died yesterday because of so-called ‘shell shortages’," he told his press service.
"There are five times more of them than there should have been."
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