Russian troops are forced to use SHOVELS during hand-to-hand combat in Ukraine

Russian troops have been forced to use shovels during hand-to-hand combat in Ukraine due to ammunition shortages as Vladimir Putin continues to lose control of the war.

In the latest Defense Ministry update on the situation in Ukraine, it revealed that mobilized Russian reservists said they were ordered to storm a Ukrainian concrete strongpoint armed only with “firearms and shovels.”

The Defense Ministry said that shovels like the MPL 50 were also likely the tools used for close combat.

A standard MPL 50 shovel has a mythologized reputation in Russia for being particularly lethal.

The spade’s design hasn’t changed much since its first introduction back in 1869. It’s small, only 20 inches (50 cm) long.

It was used by the military as a close combat weapon, for entrenchment, as well as an ax and hammer in the Russian Empire, then the Soviet Union, and then its successor states since its invention.

Soviet Spetsnaz units reportedly trained with the MPL 50 shovel for hand-to-hand combat.

The Defense Ministry said the use of the shovel as a weapon “highlights the brutal, low-tech fighting that has come to characterize much of warfare.”

He added that one of the Russian reservists described being “neither physically nor psychologically” ready for action.

In addition, he said that there is an increase in hand-to-hand combat in Ukraine.

He said Putin is likely to keep pushing for his infantry to attack, even though they are low on ammunition.