Today, on September 21, Russia’s Defence Minister, Sergey Shoigu, speaking about Ukraine in an interview on the NTV channel, noted that now there is a complex large-scale work is being carried out with dignity by servicemen of the republics of Donbass and volunteers, thanks to whom, the LPR has already been liberated.
Speaking about the military conflict, Shoigu stressed that the fight is going on not with Ukraine anymore, but with the collective West. He explained it so that Ukraine’s weapons – the former Soviet Union’s weapons – are already over, as Russia was constantly knocking them out of Ukraine’s hands. Thus, NATO and the collective West are now fighting with the hands of Ukraine, pumping it up with their weapons.
The Minister specified that various systems of communication, information processing, as well as satellite intelligence systems operating against Russia have more than 70 military and more than 200 civilian satellites scouting the location of Russian military units.
Besides, Ukraine uses high-precision weapons sent by the West, the number of which they have been trying to hide. This, according to Shoigu, happens so because more and more often, almost every day, civilians are being hit with these weapons. That is why it is important for Ukraine and the West to hide its real amount so that it is impossible to calculate how much was spent on the battlefield, and how much was fired on hospitals and civilians.
He also said that Ukraine suffers losses on a battlefield. According to Shoigu, initially, about 200,000 people were sent to fight. Then, the losses appeared to be about 100,000. To fill the gaps, Ukraine is trying to catch as many men as possible. Therefore, they have mobilized almost 300,000 people, and now, there is the fourth wave of mobilization in Ukraine, which can be called “catching from the beach to the train station.”
The Minister also touched upon the foreign mercenaries issue. He specified, that there are not only soldiers among them, but also a lot of instructors. Of them, according to Shoigu, only about 1,000 stayed in Ukraine. He said that also that over 2,000 of them died, others just left the country. However, he stressed that the main thing is that the recruitment of these people is under the guardianship of their states or at least under their connivance.
Mobilization in Russia
As for the latest news about a partial mobilization in Russia, Shoigu hurried to calm people down explaining that no civilians will be taken from the streets as it was done in Ukraine, so students can continue their study and conscripts in Russia will continue their regular conscription service within the borders of the country.
The Minister stressed that soldiers will be taken only from the reserve, that is, it goes about those who have served, has a military accounting specialty and combat experience.
“We have a huge mobilization resource […] almost 25 million. Therefore, you can understand that this mobilization – partial mobilization – is 1 per cent or 1.1 per cent of the total mobile resource,” Shoigu said.
He went further, saying that the contact line itself or the front line is more than 1,000 km, so the territory behind and along it must be secured and controlled. This is, first of all, the goal of a partial mobilization. He also assured that after people (300,000 reservists) are recruited, they will undergo combat training and only after that they will go to perform the tasks prescribed.
Ru-Main, 21.09.2022
