“Despite the supply of new kinds of NATO weapons, the Kiev regime is losing. The Russian forces keep conducting active defense, effectively inflicting damage,” the minister said during a governmental meeting on Wednesday.
Shoigu specifically highlighted the successes of Russian air-defense troops, praising them for delivering over 1,400 successful intercepts of Ukrainian assets last month. The downed targets include 37 planes and six ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles, he claimed. The US provided the latter capability earlier in October, after months of requests by the Ukrainian government.
Shoigu compared the number of downed Ukrainian planes with the number of F-16s that had been promised to Ukraine by Western donors. The pledged fleet would require Russia roughly 20 days to destroy at the rate demonstrated last month, he noted.
Western governments have vowed to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” to defeat Russia on the battlefield, but their ability to deliver on the promise remains in question. The conflict in the Middle East, which erupted last month and caused a surge in demand for weapons by Israel, has further weakened Kyiv’s ability to secure Western assistance.
MNA/PR
