Putin’s troops forced to ‘fight with shovels’ as Russia faces ammo shortage

DAILY STAR

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.

“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.