LRussia has conquered 189 Ukrainian localities in 2024 and has the initiative on “the entire line” of the front, said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in a speech to the main executives of his Ministry of Defense .
“Russian troops have the strategic initiative across the entire line of contact” in Ukraine, he said, according to comments reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP), claiming “the liberation of 189 localities” during 2024. “I would like to emphasize that the past year was a pivotal year in terms of achieving the objectives of the special military operation,” he added, using the euphemism de rigeur in Russia for mention the assault on Ukraine.
According to the defense minister, cited by Reuters, Russian troops have pushed back Ukrainian forces from nearly 4,500 square kilometers of territory this year and are advancing at an average of 30 square kilometers per day. In addition, some 427,000 military personnel signed contracts with the army in 2024, and more than 1,000 people signed up, in one day.
“Nuclear deterrence policy”
The Russian president also accused Western countries of crossing “red lines”. Vladimir Putin is referring to kyiv's use of American and British long-range missiles on Russian soil. According to him, with this green light, the United States is encouraging escalation in Ukraine. It is these “red lines” that force the Kremlin to respond. “We are not brandishing nuclear weapons, it is a policy of nuclear deterrence,” he said, according to Reuters, assuring that they would maintain its “strategic potential” to repel the West.
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In this context, Vladimir Putin praised the considerable increase in arms production in the country, and called for it to continue. “All issues relating to mass production and deployment of national systems to carry out strikes, including hypersonic systems, must be resolved,” he said, according to AFP.
Vladimir Putin signed a record military budget for 2025, with around $126 billion (13.5 trillion rubles) for national defense, or more than a third of public spending.
