According to the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, on September 5, 2023, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu, held a conference call with the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
(c) The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Opening the meeting, the head of the Russian military department summed up the results of the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2023" held in August.
"Fifteen hundred enterprises and organizations, including 83 foreign companies, demonstrated 28.5 thousand samples of military and dual-use products. Belarus, Vietnam, India, Iran, China, and Pakistan presented national expositions. The forum was attended by military delegations from 83 countries, including 41 high-level ones, as well as representatives of six international organizations. 15 thousand experts participated in the scientific and business program. 20 state contracts have been signed for a total amount of over 400 billion rubles. More than a million people visited the exhibition grounds during the week," the Russian Defense Minister said. Then Army General Sergei Shoigu noted that, despite the sanctions, the forum remains an urgent platform for countries that are ready to build equal partnerships in the military-technical sphere.
Thanking the organizers of the Army-2023 MIFTF, the head of the Russian department began summing up the results of the XI Moscow Conference on International Security, which also took place in August: "It gathered 800 delegates from 76 countries and six international organizations, including 26 defense ministers, 16 deputy defense ministers and chiefs of General staffs. The heads of foreign defense departments expressed support for Russia's foreign policy course to strengthen multipolarity, readiness for further development of constructive cooperation with our country in the defense sphere. The conference confirmed Russia's high authority in the international arena, demonstrated the failure of the collective West's efforts to isolate it," the Russian Defense Minister said.
In addition, other issues related to the beginning of the new academic year were also touched upon during the meeting: "On September 1, 38 higher and 33 pre-university educational institutions of the Ministry of Defense started working. For the first time, classes began at the newly established Military Engineering Academy in Nakhabino, Donetsk Higher Combined Arms Command School, Irkutsk Suvorov Military School. The total number of students and cadets amounted to more than 60 thousand people, pupils - almost 17 thousand. At the same time, the set of 2023 significantly exceeded last year's," the Russian Defense Minister said.
The head of the Russian military department stressed that the training programs will be adjusted taking into account the experience of a special military operation. Moreover, special attention during the educational process will be paid to practical training, the organization and support of combat operations, the use of weapons, military and special equipment, including new models.
Further, the Russian Defense Minister raised the issue of a special military operation, noting that the Russian Armed Forces are active on the entire line of contact: "The Kiev regime, despite the colossal losses, has been trying to conduct a so-called counteroffensive for the third month. The armed forces of Ukraine have not achieved their goals in any of the directions. The Ukrainian leadership is desperately trying to demonstrate to Western curators at least some success of offensive actions in order to further receive military and economic assistance, which only delays the conflict," the head of the Russian military department said, after which he dwelt in more detail on various areas of the special military operation.
"The most tense situation has developed in the Zaporozhye direction. The enemy brought into battle brigades from the strategic reserve, whose personnel were trained under the guidance of Western instructors. Thanks to the selfless actions of servicemen of the 810th Brigade and the 177th Marine Regiment, the 56th Airborne Assault and 71st Motorized Rifle regiments, as well as units of the 76th Airborne Division, significant damage was caused to Ukrainian units. Acting decisively in the Kupyansk and Kremen directions, our troops liberated the settlement of Novoselovskoye, significantly improving the position on the front edge. During the offensive, the soldiers of the 1st, 12th and 26th tank regiments showed bravery and courage," the Russian Defense Minister said.
After that, he summed up the results of the summer campaign of hostilities: "Since the beginning of the so-called offensive, enemy losses have exceeded 66 thousand people and 7,600 weapons. Trying to hide the failure of the offensive, Ukrainian militants are attacking civilian targets and passing off these terrorist attacks as military victories," Army General Sergei Shoigu said. As the Russian Defense Minister noted, 159 HIMARS rockets, over a thousand unmanned aerial vehicles and 13 cruise missiles were shot down over the past month alone.
Also during the meeting, the Russian Defense Minister discussed plans for the supply of heavy military transport aircraft and upgraded strategic missile carriers to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. He stressed that "this year, six Il-76MD-90A and four Tu-160M should enter the Armed Forces."
The state and development of the military transport aviation fleet was discussed separately: "Since the beginning of the special military operation, 8000 sorties have been made, almost 376 thousand servicemen, over two 2700 units of military equipment and 132 thousand tons of cargo have been transported. In addition, military transport aviation was involved in extinguishing fires and ensuring the actions of our group in Syria," the Russian Defense Minister said.
