“Many reservists will likely need to purchase their own armor, particularly the modern 6B45 vest, which should be a common concern for combat detachments under the Ratnik personal gear program,” he tweeted. The ministry said the jacket sold for 40,000 rubles (around US$640 or €660) on Russian online shopping sites, up from around 12,000 rubles in April.
In 2020, Russian authorities said that 300,000 pieces of Ratnik armor had been made available to the military, “enough to equip forces currently stationed in Ukraine”. “Endemic corruption and limitations in logistics remain one of the underlying causes of Russia’s poor performance in Ukraine,” the ministry said.
Who are the Russian reservists – Vladimir Putin specified that “only citizens who are currently in reserve will be called to arms and undergo additional military training, taking into account previous experience in the field.” The exact number of members of the Russian active reserve is not known. This figure was in fact established by Presidential Decree n. 370 of July 17, 2015 classified on this point. However, the figure was given by Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, who said 300,000 reservists will be involved, that’s 1% of the roughly 25 million people in the entire mobilization basin. This force consists of men who have already served in the army. In particular, preference is given to people who already have combat experience or have military specializations. Conscript soldiers are excluded.