Russian Defense Minister Serhii Shoigu said on Tuesday that the losses of Ukrainian troops in February increased by 40% compared to the first month of the year, Interfax reports.

“The support of the Kyiv regime by NATO countries does not lead to the success of Ukrainian troops on the battlefield. On the contrary, there is a significant increase in casualties among the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” he said during a video conference on Tuesday.

“There were losses only in February [ucrainenilor] they increased by more than 40% compared to January and amounted to more than 11,000 servicemen,” Serhiy Shoigu said.

According to him, Western countries are increasing supplies of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine as part of “the American strategy to break Russia by force of arms.”

Speaking about the alleged losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Shoigu also noted that “in this sense, the indifference of the Kyiv regime to its people, which does not take into account the huge human losses in favor of Western curators, is surprising.” .”

Serhii Soigu says that the priority of the Russian army is “saving life”

“Our priority remains the preservation of life and health of personnel and the civilian population. We will continue to perform tasks within the framework of a military special operation,” concluded Serhiy Shoigu.

His new comments appeared after he announced on February 7 that in January Ukrainian forces would have recorded more than 6,500 casualties.

At the time, this statement drew attention to the fact that it was the first time that the Russian defense minister personally spoke about the alleged Ukrainian losses. In addition, previously the military leadership in Moscow made public only those material losses, which, according to him, were caused to the Ukrainian troops, and not human losses.

Some saw Shoigu’s statements last month as a direct response to the balance sheet released earlier in the day by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, which for the first time announced that it resulted in the loss of more than 1,000 Russian soldiers in just 24 hours.

But some analysts now note that it is entirely possible that Shoigu’s personally announced calculations actually mark a paradigm shift as Moscow prepares the Russians for a protracted war.

Another option is for Shoigu to seek greater visibility in the power structure of the Russian state, in a context in which the military command in Moscow has been repeatedly criticized by mercenary chief Wagner, as well as by military bloggers in Russia and the country. ultra-nationalist factions.

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