"Uralvagonzavod" announced a large-scale reduction in personnel: what will the defense industry of the Russian Federation lose

The situation at the key enterprise of the Russian defense industry was reported by the publication E1, at the disposal of which appeared the corresponding order dated November 7 of the executive director of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. "Optimize the number of centers, services, departments, institutes, departments of the company to 10% of their average registered number," the head ordered.

Journalists also refer to other internal documents of the enterprise, which refer to the creation of a special commission that selects candidates for dismissal. Those who will be cut are promised payments of up to three average monthly salaries, but the employees of the plant express disbelief in official statements. "According to our data, the reduction for most units is up to 50% of their full-time workforce.

As a result, able-bodied, highly qualified specialists lose their jobs," plant employees told reporters. At the moment, it is not clear which areas will fall under the "optimization", which should be carried out by February 2026. As noted in "Military", it may be about the civil sector, which is engaged in the production of railway cars. At the same time, it is not excluded that reductions may also affect military production, taking into account Russia's active hostilities against Ukraine.

If they are really dismissing the employees of the civilian sector, the question arises why the management does not transfer them to the tank sector, where there is formally a shortage of personnel due to mobilization and losses of equipment at the front. According to experts, this indicates a decrease in the volume of state defense orders and the financial exhaustion of the industry, which cannot maintain the former pace even with large-scale militarization of the economy.

"Uralvagonzavod" is a city-forming enterprise in Nizhny Tagil, Sverdlovsk region. In 2021, the Radio Liberty media reported that 30,000 local residents worked at the enterprise: this is almost 10% of the townspeople (349,000). If half of them are fired, then an additional 5% of Nizhne Tagil residents will become unemployed. The situation at Uralvagonzavod is not an isolated case.

On October 26, it became known that the Ashinsky Metallurgical Plant (AMZ) in the Chelyabinsk region also announced a reduction in production and staff. The enterprise produces special alloys and sheet metal used in the defense, aviation and nuclear industries. We will remind you that the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine published data on the scale of production of the Russian military-industrial complex for 2025.