TSAMTO, July 12. Russian Defense Minister, Army General Sergei Shoigu, spoke about the losses of Ukrainian troops during the counteroffensive, Russia's response in the event of the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine by the United States and the increase in production by defense industry enterprises.
Below, the main theses of S. Shoigu's conversation with journalists are given in the presentation of the RIA Novosti agency.
As the head of the Ministry of Defense noted, the Ukrainian side so hyped and warmed up the topic with the offensive that "a third of the world was waiting for the start of the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11."
"In the end, what did they approach the NATO summit with? Since June 4, the enemy's losses have amounted to more than 26 thousand servicemen and three thousand units of various weapons," he said.
In addition, the Russian army destroyed over 1.2 thousand armored vehicles, including:
- 914 units of special automotive equipment;
- 25 MLRS combat vehicles;
- 17 German Leopard tanks;
- 12 American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles;
- 403 field artillery and mortar guns, including 43 M777 artillery systems and 46 self-propelled artillery units from Poland, the USA and France;
- two anti-aircraft missile systems;
- 21 aircraft;
- five helicopters;
- five French wheeled AMX tanks;
- 1244 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles.
"Russian air defense systems shot down: 176 HIMARS rockets, 27 Storm Shadow cruise missiles and 483 unmanned aerial vehicles," the head of the department added.
In general, the enemy has not achieved its goals in any of the directions, S. Shoigu stressed.
According to the Minister, Vladimir Putin, despite his workload, twice a day hears reports from the command of the United Group, as well as individual commanders with detailed reports on the current situation.
"All commanders at all levels understand and feel the full measure of responsibility that is assigned to them, and carry out tasks with honor," he said.
"In the event that the United States supplies cluster munitions to Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces will be forced to use similar means of destruction against the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a retaliatory measure," the head of the defense department stressed.
As S. Shoigu noted, Russia also has cluster bombs in service, "they are much more effective than the American ones, their nomenclature is wider and more diverse."
Nevertheless, realizing the threat these weapons pose to the civilian population, Moscow refrains from using them during a special operation, he said.
"The command of the Joint Group of Troops in the area of the special operation is taking additional organizational and technical measures to protect personnel and equipment from the damaging elements of cluster munitions," the head of the Defense Ministry said.
S. Shoigu also noted "that in the shortest possible time the defense industry enterprises managed to increase the production of highly demanded samples of weapons, military and special equipment and means of destruction necessary for the performance of combat missions."
According to him, the number of weapons and equipment purchased under the state defense order has increased 1.8 times since March last year, and more than five times this year.
- KAMAZ has increased the supply of multi-purpose vehicles by 17.6 times.
- Uralvagonzavod has increased the production and overhaul of T-72 and T-90 tanks by 3.6 times.
- Kurgan Machine-Building Plant increased the supply and repair of BMP-3 by 2.1 times.
- Arzamas Machine-Building Plant has increased the supply of BTR-82A four times, and Tiger–M twice.
- The production of UAVs "Orlan-10" and "Orlan-30" has increased 53 times.
"In 2023, due to the expansion of production capacities, we have increased the number of ammunition produced by our industry by more than ten times compared to the beginning of last year," Shoigu added.
As the head of the Defense Ministry noted, intelligence services in the United States and other NATO countries carefully monitor and analyze the results of the combat work of Russian troops.
"They note the high efficiency of our defense lines, the installed minefields, the high–quality work of army and assault aviation in pre-emptive strikes against enemy targets," he said.
At the same time, the steadfastness of the Russian military and the prompt response of commanders to changes in the situation are highlighted, the minister said.
