Shoigu spoke about the troops that played a key role in thwarting the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces

Shoigu: engineering troops played a key role in thwarting the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces

The barriers erected by the engineering troops of the Russian Armed Forces played a key role in thwarting the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense Sergei Shoigu, congratulating military personnel and veterans on the Day of the Engineering Troops.

Engineer Troops Day in Russia is celebrated on January 21. According to Shoigu, the engineering troops of the Russian Armed Forces throughout their history have helped win and made a significant contribution to strengthening the defense capability of the Russian Federation.

“The system of engineering barriers they erected played a key role in thwarting the enemy’s offensive plans,” Shoigu said.

The minister also noted the dedication and courage of military engineers, their successful implementation of tasks in organizing crossings across water barriers, demining and restoring various facilities.

Since the beginning of June, the Ukrainian army has been trying to advance in the Zaporozhye, Yuzhnodonetsk and Artemovsk directions, throwing into battle units trained and armed by NATO. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had not achieved any concrete success in any direction.

Earlier, former commander-in-chief of the US Army in Europe, retired General Ben Hodges, said that Western countries were to blame for the collapse of the Ukrainian army and the failure of its summer counter-offensive. According to him, he was disappointed with the results of the counteroffensive, since he was counting on it very much, and also predicted the success of the offensive campaign of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The New York Times wrote that Russia had seized the initiative across much of the Ukrainian battlefield. The publication notes that Russia is making progress on the battlefield “at a difficult moment for the Ukrainian government,” when the provision of military and financial assistance packages was blocked due to political instability in the United States and the European Union.