Russian forces are suffering a shortage of tanks, the nations’s defence minister has admitted during a visit a military factory in western Siberia. Sergei Shoigu has called for more tanks to be manufactured "to meet the needs of Russian forces" in Ukraine, with Kyiv having launched a counteroffensive involving Western tanks and weapons. Mr Shoigu said there was a need "to maintain the increased production of tanks" and better security features in armored vehicles, the Defense Ministry said in a statement about the visit. Ukrainian deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said on Saturday that Kyiv’s forces were making progress – or having “registered tactical successes” as she put it – in the southern Zaporizhzhia region Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is to host a group of African leaders who travelled to Russia on a self-styled "peace mission" after a trip to Ukraine on Friday. Seven African leaders - the presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, as well as Egypt's prime minister and top envoys from the Republic of Congo and Uganda – have travelled to St Petersburg to meet Mr Putin. Read More Why Russia’s attempts to get round oil sanctions risk ecological disaster Ukrainians leaving UK because they cannot get housing, volunteer made MBE says