Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday spoke of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which he said began on June 4, during which he said Kyiv suffered “10 times more” casualties than Russia, Reuters reported and Sky News.

Vladimir Putin stated this during a televised meeting with Russian military correspondents and military bloggers.

He claimed that Ukraine’s losses would be 10 times greater than Russia’s, and that Kyiv would lose more than 160 tanks, while Moscow had 54. Vladimir Putin also stated that Ukraine would lose 25-30% of the equipment supplied to it by the West. and that the Ukrainian army would not be able to achieve any success in the combat zones.

The head of the Kremlin refused to say whether Moscow would launch a new offensive against Ukraine in response to Kyiv’s counteroffensive, noting that Russia’s plans would depend on its military potential.

Vladimir Putin reiterated that Ukraine had deliberately struck the Kakhovka dam last week with US-supplied HIMARS missiles, a move he said would also hamper Kyiv’s counteroffensive efforts.

Attacks on Russia. “We could have prepared better”

Putin also talked about some of the recent attacks on Russia that have been blamed on Ukraine or “Russian groups” that support Ukraine:

• “We have to strengthen our border… the possibility of bombing from the side of Ukraine remains. If the attacks continue, we will consider the possibility of creating a sanitary zone inside Ukraine.
• We could better prepare for attacks from inside Russia.”

President Vladimir Putin also said that Russia “needs to fight enemy agents and improve its defenses against attacks from within its territory,” but there is no need to follow Ukraine’s example and declare martial law: “There is no reason to impose any kind of special regime or martial law in the country . There is no need for this today.”

“Should we go back there?”

When asked about the new mobilization in Russia, Putin replied: “It depends on what we want.”

When asked about the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, which Russian troops were unable to capture after the invasion, Putin replied: “Should we go back there?”

“The quality of Russian weapons is improving, but there is a lack of drones”

The Russian president also said that the quality of Russian weapons has improved, but the country lacks high-precision munitions and drones. He said that Russia had increased its production of key weapons by 2.7 times over the past year, and also accused the West of “pumping” weapons into Ukraine.

“Common goals”

About the “general goal” of Russia in the “special military operation” in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said that it will not change in its “general features”: “We are gradually demilitarizing Ukraine. It will be necessary to install anti-aircraft defense – the task will be completed.”

How Putin positions himself in the conflict between Prigozhin and Shoigu

Vladimir Putin also took a stand in the latest conflict between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the founder of the mercenary group “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Putin said he supported the Defense Ministry’s order for Russian private military groups to sign contracts with the ministry by July 1, which Wagner refused, Reuters writes.

Even on Tuesday, Yevgeny Prigozhin said that he was not sure whether his men would continue to fight in Ukraine amid the latest conflict with the Ministry of Defense.

The founder of the mercenary group “Wagner” declared at the end of last week that he will ignore the new decree of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, which obliges all volunteer formations to sign a contract directly with the ministry. The decree, signed by Sergei Shoigu and published on the ministry’s website on Saturday, does not specify whether all volunteer groups are required to enter into contracts with the ministry, or only some. There are more than 40 volunteer groups in Russia, but Wagner is the most important.