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MOSCOW. – Russia’s defence minister yesterday told officials that Ukraine’s ability to fight had been “almost exhausted” and said the war had exposed vulnerabilities in Western weapons systems that Moscow would soon share.
The war has sown devastation across swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, killed or injured hundreds of thousands and triggered the biggest rupture in Russia’s ties with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Kremlin casts the conflict as an existential battle with a hostile West which it says wants to tear Russia apart.
Speaking to a security conference in Moscow attended by China’s defence minister, Li Shangfu, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, 68, said the conflict had been a serious test for Russia.
“In the special military operation, the Russian army has debunked many myths about the superiority of Western military standards,” Shoigu said in a rare public speech.
“The preliminary results of combat operations show that Ukraine’s military resources are almost exhausted,” said Shoigu, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most powerful allies. He did not give detailed evidence to back up either statement.
A Ukrainian counteroffensive has so far failed to yield major territorial success.
Russia says it will achieve all its aims in Ukraine, which it casts as a puppet of the West.
Shoigu said he would share details about the weaknesses of Western weapons and that none were invulnerable.
“We have data on … the destruction of German tanks, American armoured vehicles, British missiles and other weapons systems,” he said. “We are ready to share our assessments … with our partners.”
Shoigu accused Ukraine of repeatedly using civilian infrastructure to hide soldiers and heavy military equipment and that Kyiv had shelled civilian settlements in Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine, he said, had used the Black Sea grain deal as a cover for building up stores of weapons and munitions in Odesa and other ports. Ukraine has repeatedly denied using civilian infrastructure for military purposes and denies any targeting of civilians.
In remarks aimed at China, Shoigu said the West was intentionally stoking the situation around Taiwan, comparing the situation to the Ukraine war.
“Under these conditions, bilateral relations between Russia and China have surpassed the level of strategic ties in all respects, becoming more than just allied,” Shoigu said.
Meanwhile, Shoigu said Russia and China maintain communication between the two countries’ military at a high level and conduct joint land, naval and air drills.
“Russia and China are strategic partners, good neighbours and close friends,” he stressed. “During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia this March, the leaders of our countries reiterated that Russian-Chinese comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation have reached the highest point ever in the entire history of bilateral relations. We are implementing our leaders’ agreements in practice.– Reuters and TASS
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