The Minister of Defense of Russia, Sergei Shoigu, considered the Russian invasion of Ukraine a great victory in a special report on the Armed Forces, quoted by TASS.
The army of the Russian Federation has captured five times more territory in Ukraine than the so-called “Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics” occupied before the “special military operation” that began on February 24, 2022, Shoigu pointed out, RIA Novosti also reported .
According to Shoigu’s data, after the annexation of Ukrainian territories, four new administrative regions with a total area of 83 thousand square kilometers and a population of about 5 million people entered the Russian Federation.
The minister also pointed out that as a result of the military intervention, the Sea of Azov has become internal to Russia. A new naval district was established there.
Shoigu also highlighted the restoration of the railway connection between Russia and Donbas, as well as the land corridor with Crimea, where trains and cars are already running.
According to Shoigu, the Russian army is the most prepared and combat-ready in the world. “Today, the Russian army is the most trained and combat-ready in the world, equipped with modern weapons tested in combat conditions,” said the minister and specified that more than 650 thousand Russian servicemen received combat experience in Ukraine. “Priority tasks for the next year: continuation of the special military operation until the tasks set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief are fully implemented,” Shoigu stressed.
He then announced Ukraine’s losses in the war. Over 383 thousand killed and wounded military personnel – or more than half of the entire Ukrainian army, which, together with reservists, currently has about 700 thousand servicemen. Destroyed more than 14 thousand tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, shot down 553 aircraft, 259 helicopters. Shoigu also noted the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
He announced that there was a significant influx of volunteers into the Russian army. “Every day, more than 1,500 people apply for military service. This year alone, about 490,000 contract and volunteer servicemen have been recruited. In addition, more than four thousand Russian students have voluntarily taken academic leave and are performing combat duties,” Shoigu said.
The minister also announced what military equipment he believes Ukraine received from the West:
– 5220 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 28 aircraft, 87 helicopters, 23 thousand drones, over 1300 artillery systems, as well as 2,650,000 shells.
“NATO military personnel directly control the air defense systems, operational-tactical missiles and reactive salvo fire systems. When preparing strikes with these means, we record American, Polish and British speech in radio intercepts,” Shoigu also announced.
According to Shoigu, the Russian military-industrial complex has increased the production of tanks 5.6 times, infantry fighting vehicles – 3.6 times, armored personnel carriers – 3.5 times, unmanned aerial vehicles – 16.8 times, artillery ammunition by 17, 5 times, and designers create new weapons for the army in four to seven months instead of five to eight years under normal conditions.
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2023-12-20 16:00:00
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