Aha Dua Permata: Russia estimates total Ukrainian losses

Tuesday 19 December 2023

Russia estimates total Ukrainian losses

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. ©Kremlin.

Ukraine’s total losses since the start of Moscow’s military campaign are approaching 400,000 troops, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has claimed. President Vladimir Putin, who presided over a meeting of the ministry’s collegium on Tuesday, stated that Russian troops now have the upper hand along the entire front line.

According to Shoigu, “since the start of the special operation, the Ukrainian armed forces’ casualties have exceeded 383,000 service members, killed and wounded, 14,000 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 553 warplanes and 259 helicopters, 8,500 artillery pieces, and multiple launch rocket systems.”

The minister claimed that Kiev has suffered almost half of its overall military personnel losses since it began an attempted counteroffensive in early June. The costly push has failed to deliver any consequential territorial gains, as recently acknowledged by top officials in Kiev and Western capitals alike.

Putin declared at the meeting that Moscow is “not going to give up our goals of the special military operation,” adding that the Russian military currently has considerable leeway for maneuver in the conflict.

According to the Russian leader, Kiev “has to a large degree squandered its reserves, attempting to show some result to its true masters.” The last several months have also dispelled the myth that Western military hardware is invincible, he added.

Putin concluded that any hopes of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia among Kiev’s Western backers have been shattered.

Watch Russian Grad Artillery Wipe Out Ukrainian Positions in Special Op Zone

Russian Airborne Troops used Grad multiple launch rocket systems (MRLS) to target Ukrainian military units and subsequently disrupt troop rotation north of Artemovsk (formerly Bakhmut) in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has released footage showing Russian paratroopers employing a Grad MLRS against Ukrainian units to undermine enemy troop rotation in the Donetsk area.

Russian paratroopers and gunners carried out crushing strikes on the enemy with unguided missiles equipped with high-explosive fragmentation heads. After completing the combat task, the paratroopers quickly withdrew from the location and promptly departed to a safe area for recharge and reload

Putin: Russian Nuclear Triad 95% Modernized

The activity of NATO has increased sharply in general, and US forces, including aircraft, have been deployed to the Russian borders, Russian President Vladimir Putin said while presiding over a Russian Ministry of Defense meeting on December 19.

"Recently, the activity of the NATO military bloc as a whole has sharply increased. Significant forces from the United States, including aircraft, have been deployed to our borders, and the number of alliance troops in Eastern and Central Europe has increased," Putin stated.

The aggressive nature of NATO is no longer hidden, the Russian president said, adding that claims to global superiority are directly enshrined in US documents.

"The events of this year have confirmed — well, we all see it — that the West continues to wage a hybrid war against Russia, actively supplies the Kiev regime with intelligence information in real-time, sends military advisers, transfers modern weapons systems," he said.

Ukrainian Conflict Situation

Russian Armed Forces have the initiative in the Ukrainian conflict and are doing everything they deem necessary, Putin remarked.

"Assessing the current situation on the ground, on the contact line, one can say with confidence that our troops have the initiative. In essence, we are doing what we think is necessary," he said.

The Russian president also noted that the myth about theinvulnerability of Western military equipment has been broken on the battlefields of the Ukrainian conflict.

Russia's Nuclear Deterrence

Modern military equipment accounts for 95% of Russia's strategic nuclear forces, Putin said on Tuesday.

"This current year, thanks to the consequent implementation of the state armaments program, coordinated work of the defense industry, the share of modern weapons and equipment in the strategic nuclear forces has reached 95% in general," Putin remarked.

In light of the current global situation and the emergence of new “military-political risks,” the importance of a nuclear triad that “ensures the strategic balance of powers in the world” has drastically increased, the Russian president added.

According to him, some 15 Yars and Avangard nuclear missile launch systems will enter service as part of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces.

US Was Afraid of Europe's Rapprochement With Russia

The United States was very concerned about Russia’s rapprochement with Europe, but Moscow was not going to fight with Europe and is not going to do it now, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"[The US] was very frightened by Russia's rapprochement with Europe. It should be the masters there. It kept scaring ... evil Russia is threatening you. But I talked to many leaders and they tell me: 'Why are they scaring us? We understand that Russia is not going to fight with Europe.' Yes, we are not going to [fight] now," Putin said.

The United States deliberately dragged Russia and Europe into conflict and achieved its goal, but Moscow had no other options, the president said, noting that Russia has not interfered and will not interfere in European affairs.

"And now, [the US] is also shifting the burden of financial responsibility and payments onto Europe. And the weak-willed and spineless generation of today’s politicians in Europe cannot resist this, given the colossal dependence in the media, in the economy, in politics," Putin said.

The US operates in Europe through numerous foundations, works with students, drags them to the "political Olympus of European countries," the leader said.

Putin also said that Russia does not need NATO countries now and will not need them in future.

"The US leadership says: if they [Russians] win in Ukraine now, NATO countries will be next. Why do we need these NATO countries? We do not need them, we never needed them, and we do not need them now, and we will not need them in the future," he added.