MOSCOW, Aug 4-RIA Novosti. A lockdown in Russia in the spring of 2020 due to the coronavirus epidemic threatened to disrupt the supply of weapons and military equipment under the state defense order and for export in the amount of several trillion rubles, Russian Defense Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu said.
According to him, as a result of the lockdown introduced in the Russian regions due to COVID-19, most defense enterprises have stopped working. Among them are Sevmash, Zvezdochka, Kalashnikov Concern, Kamaz, Vostochnaya Shipyard, Izhevsk electromechanical plant Kupol, and the aviation plant in Ulan-Ude.
Shoigu noted that after his report, Russian President Vladimir Putin managed to make decisions on the safe resumption of production of weapons and military equipment.
"As a result of the adoption of the necessary decisions by the President of Russia at that time, not only the state defense order and the country's obligations within the framework of military-technical cooperation were fulfilled. The most important thing is that people have the opportunity to continue working, receive wages and feed their families, " he explained.
