Russia’s army is struggling to provide its soldiers with socks and underpants – according to a pro-Putin blogger. The astonishing claim was made by Yuri Podolyaka during a fascinating interview that shed light on life inside Russia’s armed forces.

Putin’s soldiers have often complained of not receiving adequate military equipment. Many have claimed they were forced to use their own money to buy basic items such as helmets and body-armour protection. Volunteers have also chipped in, raising money to purchase essential pieces of equipment for their frontline troops.

An inability to kit out its army properly has proved to be a continual source of embarrassment for Russia’s Ministry of Defence. And officials appear to be no closer to solving the supply shortages, judging by the latest evidence.

Podolyaka said that Putin’s army is still unable to kit out its troops with basic essentials – in this case underwear, socks and standard uniforms.

“One thing that amazes me now is that..and I just don’t know how..but after three and a half years of war, can we really not centrally provide our army with socks and underpants? he said incredulously.

When the host of the programme asked whether the Ministry of Defence was aware of the problem, the blogger replied in the affirmative, but said officials were unable to fix it.

“A lot of things are like that,” he continued. “It should be clear by now but I’ve no idea why, it really stuns me.”

“This really does not impress,” replied the interviewer in disbelief.

Podolyaka – who was born in Ukraine – is a key member of the Kremlin’s information campaign against Kyiv.

He moved to Russia after the Kremlin’s proxies seized territory in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

The Kremlin propagandist hosts programmes on RuTube and has his own Telegram channel called “The World Today with Yuri Podolyaka”.

He tried to claim that war crimes committed by Russian troops in Bucha was “staged by Kyiv”.

Podolyaka has been charged with treason for passing on information to Russia’s army and facilitating their attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. He was sentenced in abstentia by a court to 15 years in prison for collaboration.