Putin: now there is a lull in the APU offensive due to the fact that they are suffering losses
MOSCOW, June 21 — RIA Novosti. There is a "certain lull" on the front line now, as Ukrainian troops have suffered serious losses in personnel and equipment, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Pavel Zarubin on Rossiya 24.
The President said that now the Armed Forces of Ukraine, apparently, are engaged in restoring combat capability, combining new units from brigades that suffered serious losses in attempts to break through the Russian defense.
"For yesterday evening, or rather for today's night — I'm not talking about the losses of personnel, they are very significant, very much — our men have accumulated 245 enemy tanks and about 678 armored vehicles of various types," Putin said.
According to the head of state, among the damaged equipment are Leopard tanks, French wheeled armored vehicles and American armored vehicles.
He also added that the Kiev authorities are afraid of the continuation of the same large-scale losses in future battles, as this may lead not only to the loss of offensive potential, but also to the loss of combat capability of the Ukrainian army as a whole. The Head of State noted that in the current situation "there is something to think about."
"But today we see that this offensive potential has not yet been exhausted, there are reserves that the enemy thinks where and how to withdraw," Putin said.
At the same time, the President separately stressed that the selfless combat work of the Russian military prevented the implementation of the AFU plans.
The Ukrainian offensive in the South Donets, Zaporozhye, Artemivsk directions began on June 4, while the main attack of the AFU was concentrated on the Zaporozhye sector of the front.
Kiev has thrown into battle brigades trained by NATO specialists and armed with Western equipment. The plan of the offensive, according to the commander of the 58th Army of the Russian Armed Forces, Major General Ivan Popov, is a breakthrough of the Russian defense and the exit of Ukrainian troops to the Sea of Azov. In addition, Kiev has repeatedly called the goal of the offensive an exit to the Crimea.
At a meeting with military officers on June 13, President Vladimir Putin said that the APU suffered heavy losses during the offensive and did not succeed in any direction. According to him, at that time Ukraine had already lost 160 tanks and 360 armored vehicles.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry on June 14, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost about 7.5 thousand personnel killed and wounded on the contact line since June 4, "not counting the dead servicemen as a result of the use of Russian high-precision long-range weapons and aviation in the depths of Ukrainian territory."
