Putin: Have shattered the goals of the West
Vladimir Putin takes stock of the war: for the most part, the Kremlin leader sees his country on the road to victory. Above all, he declares the West's support for Ukraine a failure. But he also sees problems in the Russian army.
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin believes that the West's attempts to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia in Ukraine have failed. The goal has been shattered by the "growing strength of our armed forces and arms production", Putin said in Moscow at a meeting of the Ministry of Defense in front of military officers and representatives from politics, church and society. In the war against Ukraine, "we can say with conviction that the initiative lies with our armed forces", said the Russian president.
Putin had ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022; many states then sided with the attacked country and supplied it with weapons. The Ukrainian counter-offensive launched in the summer of 2023 to liberate its territories from Russian occupation fell short of the expectations of politicians and civil society. Foreign experts such as the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in the USA have recently observed that Russia is gaining ground with its advances.
Shoigu: Soon 745,000 contract soldiers
Putin has recently repeatedly declared the Ukrainian armed forces' counter-offensive a failure. "The enemy is suffering heavy losses and has depleted its reserves to a significant extent," said the 71-year-old. "The myth of the invulnerability of Western military technology has also collapsed." In a minute's silence, Putin paid tribute to the Russian soldiers killed in the fighting. He did not give any figures on the losses. Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at the meeting that Ukraine had now lost 383,000 soldiers through death or injury in the war. Ukraine, on the other hand, currently puts the number of losses in the Russian ranks at 348,000 soldiers. This information cannot be verified. Neither of the warring parties has released official figures on their own losses.
Shoigu also said that the number of volunteers should increase by more than 250,000 to around 745,000 contract soldiers in the coming year. The Russians will continue to be lured into military service with a comparatively high salary of around 2,000 euros per month. "The primary goal for the coming year is to continue the special military operation until all set tasks have been completed," said Minister Shoigu. According to earlier statements, the tasks include, above all, complete control over the previously partially occupied regions of Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhia - and the demilitarization of Ukraine.
Putin once again accused the USA of having driven the conflict in Ukraine to war. He claimed that the West had only ever been interested in using the country as an instrument to destroy Russia. The USA had "achieved its goal" of dividing Russia and the EU on the European continent. The Kremlin leader also criticized NATO's growing activity on Russia's borders - for example in Finland, which only became a member of the military alliance in the wake of Putin's war.
Ukraine exposes Russian weaknesses
Putin also publicly stated that the war against Ukraine had revealed problems in Russia's defense. Russia needs more drones, better air defense and a modern satellite communication system. At the same time, he praised the modernization of the nuclear power's strategic weapons. For example, four Tu-160M long-range bombers and four nuclear submarines had been put into operation. By the end of the year, 15 new launch complexes for the Jars and Avantgard intercontinental missiles should be ready for use.
Immediately before Putin's appearance, the Russian air defense system shot down a Ukrainian drone in the Moscow region, according to the Ministry of Defense. Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that there were no injuries or damage. According to the state news agency Ria Novosti, Vnukovo International Airport reported restrictions on take-offs and landings in the wake of the drone attack at around midday. There were also reports on social networks that air traffic was also restricted at the capital's Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports. A short time later, traffic was back to normal. Previously, Russian air defense had also reported the shooting down of drones in the Bryansk and Kaluga regions.
In Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued an invitation to an annual press conference in the late afternoon under the strictest security precautions. Zelensky was also expected to comment on the course of the war and the goals for 2024. He had already announced in advance that the country's air defense would be strengthened. According to the Ukrainian air defense, two Russian drones were shot down on Tuesday.
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Despite Putin's declaration of West's support for Ukraine as a failure, some Western nations continue to provide assistance to Ukraine, aiming to help balance the power dynamics.Putin's assertion that the West's goal to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia in Ukraine has been shattered is echoed by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who highlights the growing strength of Russian armed forces and arms production.The West's efforts to aid Ukraine in its conflict against Russia have not only failed to deter Putin, but have also led to concerns over potential escalations, as nations like Finland consider joining NATO in response to growing Russian aggressive behavior.
Source: www.ntv.de
