Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated on Monday, almost six months after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, that Russia’s goal is to conquer all of Donbas, formed by Donetsk and Luhansk, DPA reports.

President of the Russian Federation Volodymyr Puin and Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Serhiy Shoigu at the “Army-2022” forum.Photo: Mykhailo Klimentiev / AP / Profimedia

In front of foreign guests at the annual military forum organized near Moscow, the leader of the Kremlin once again stated that “the territory of Donbas is being liberated step by step.”

During the meeting, Russian tanks and missiles were presented, and Putin praised Russian arms companies for equipping the troops with “modern weapons that contribute to victory today.”

Western sanctions do not affect the export of military equipment

The Russian state company “Rosoboronexport” stressed that Western sanctions against Moscow do not affect the export of Russian military equipment.

Five S-400 systems will be delivered to India by the end of 2023, Oleksandr Mikheev, head of Rosoboronexport, said. However, the director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, Dmytro Shugaev, admitted that there are certain logistical problems “related to political events.”

On February 24, Russia launched an unfounded and unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine. Moscow claims that this is a “special military operation to de-Nazify” the neighboring country and protect the Russian-speaking community in eastern Ukraine.

To protect itself, Kyiv currently relies mainly on supplies of heavy weapons from the West, writes Agerpres.

Follow the latest events of the 173rd day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.