What Vladimir Putin said about the course of the military operation. Main

Russian President Vladimir Putin met on June 13 with military corps in the Kremlin. During the meeting, the head of state answered journalists’ questions about the course and goals of the special military operation in Ukraine, the domestic military-industrial complex and enemy losses.

Putin said that the goals of the special military operation in Ukraine are fundamental, but they can change in accordance with the current situation. He clarified that the special operation is a response to the crossing of “red lines”.

It is necessary to strengthen the Russian border, the President noted. “Surely, if one of you works there, you see that this process is going on, going fast enough, and this task will also be solved – strengthening the border,” he said. As for the fight against drones, which are increasingly being used by Ukraine to attack border regions, the president is confident that this problem can be solved, and cities are protected from such attacks.

Putin noted that Ukraine is attacking the border regions in order to divert Russian troops and withdraw some of the units that are considered the most important and critical in terms of a possible offensive by the Ukrainian armed forces. “We do not need to do this, but, of course, we must protect our citizens,” the president said.

Ukraine has lost 160 tanks and 360 armored vehicles in an attempted “large-scale” counter-offensive that Kyiv has been waging since June 4. “This is just what we see. There are still losses that we do not see, which are inflicted by long-range precision weapons on accumulations of personnel and equipment. So, in fact, there are more of them, these losses, on the part of Ukraine,” the president said, adding that Kyiv could lose up to 30% of the equipment supplied from abroad. “The enemy was not successful in any of the sectors. They have big losses,” Putin summed up. He recalled that by supplying weapons, the West violates international law, but officials prefer not to notice this and, on the contrary, are proud of it.

Putin acknowledged that the Russian army lacks many things, including ammunition, UAVs, communications equipment. However, the special operation gave an understanding of how to fine-tune the defense industry so that the army becomes the best in the world. At the same time, Putin drew attention to the fact that “parquet generals” were revealed in Russia, but they very quickly showed their inefficiency, allowing the right people to advance.

Answering a question about private military companies, the president noted that everything should be brought into line with common sense, established practice and the law.

Putin said that there is no need to introduce martial law in Russia. There are also no plans to conduct a new mobilization in the country. “Over the past week, 9,500 people have signed a contract. There is no need for mobilization, of course,” Putin said. He, asking a rhetorical question about the need to return troops to Kyiv, added that mobilization depends on the goals, but today there is no such need.