Russian
defence minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday that Ukraine’s military resources
were “almost exhausted” as Kyiv wages a gruelling counter-offensive
to recapture lost territory.
“Despite
comprehensive assistance from the West, Ukraine’s armed forces are unable to
achieve results,” Shoigu said at a security conference in Moscow.
“Preliminary
results of the hostilities show that Ukraine’s military resources are almost
exhausted,” he said.
He
added that there was “nothing unique” about Western weapons and that
they were not invulnerable to Russian arms on the battlefield.
Kyiv
kicked off its long-anticipated counter-offensive in June but has acknowledged
tough battles as it struggles to break through heavily fortified Russian positions.
Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu addresses a speech during the Moscow Conference on International Security in Kubinka, Moscow region, on 15 August 2023.
While
Ukraine has claimed gains around the war-torn city of Bakhmut in its east,
Russia has claimed advances around the town of Kupiansk in the northeastern
Kharkiv region.
Shoigu
was speaking at the Moscow Conference on International Security. Russia invited
representatives from over 100 nations to attend, but Western countries were
excluded.
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