“The past year was a pivotal year in terms of achieving the objectives of the special military operation,” said the Russian president.
Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, December 14, 2024. (POOL / SERGEI BOBYLYOV)
Vladimir Putin declared Monday, December 16 that Russian troops had “strategic initiative” on all fronts in the war with Ukraine, demanding “the liberation of 189 localities” during 2024.
“Russian troops have the strategic initiative across the entire line of contact” in Ukraine, he said in a speech to the main executives of his Defense Ministry. “I would like to emphasize that
the past year has been a pivotal year
regarding the achievement of the objectives of the special military operation,” he added, using the euphemism required in Russia to refer to the assault on Ukraine.
Fewer in number and less well armed, the Ukrainian forces are gradually losing ground, but at a pace that has accelerated since the fall.
Russian soldiers are now at the gates of Pokrovsk
a large mining site and logistics hub in eastern Ukraine that they have been trying to take for months.
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Beloussov, who spoke after Vladimir Putin, told him that Russia had taken 4,500 km2 of Ukrainian territory this year, and
was currently advancing by “30km2 per day”
. The minister gave no indication of Russian losses, a sensitive and classified subject.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted last week the deaths of 43,000 soldiers and 370,000 wounded.
He estimated Russian losses at 198,000 killed and 550,000 wounded.
“The possibility of armed conflict with NATO”
Vladimir Putin has once again accused NATO countries, allies of Ukraine, of posing a threat to Russia. “NATO countries are increasing their military spending.
Alliance strike groups were formed and assembled near Russia's borders
“, he accused.
Minister Andreï Belooussov judged that the Russian army must prepare “for all possible developments in the situation, including the possibility of an armed conflict with NATO in Europe in the decades to come”.
Russia rejects the term invasion with regard to its assault on Ukraine, and considers that
his offensive aimed to push back NATO
which kyiv wants to join, and curb an existential threat. 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.
The master of the Kremlin also indicated that Russian forces were starting to use robotic systems, assisted by AI. “Soldiers are receiving advanced robotic systems, some of which use artificial intelligence (AI) technologies,” he said.
