Bridge to Russian-Occupied Crimea Is Damaged
Russia’s defense minister claimed on Thursday that the country’s army was able to fend off Ukraine’s counteroffensive, echoing a sentiment that has become pervasive among some Russian commentators — although the notion was met with some pushback, including from President Vladimir V. Putin.
The defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, told Mr. Putin at a meeting of the country’s Security Council that the Russian Army had successfully thwarted the initial wave of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Mr. Shoigu also projected confidence that Moscow’s forces would be able to withstand further attacks even as Western allies deliver more weapons to Ukraine and as analysts say the main thrust of Kyiv’s counteroffensive is still to come.
“From our side, we are getting ready, too,” Mr. Shoigu said at the meeting, which was broadcast on Russian state television.
Nikolai P. Patrushev, the Security Council’s secretary, also repeated recent claims by Russia that its army had destroyed dozens of tanks, armored vehicles and other military equipment in Ukraine, including at least 13 tanks supplied by the West. Mr. Patrushev’s specific claims could not be verified, but photos and videos posted by pro-war Russian bloggers, and verified by The Times, show that Ukraine lost or abandoned several Western-supplied tanks and armored vehicles in the initial days of the offensive early this month.
Still, Mr. Putin appeared to temper the optimistic assessments during the meeting. The Russian leader said that “the enemy’s offensive potential has not been depleted, and a number of strategic reserves have not been used.”
“I would urge you to take that into account,” Mr. Putin told Mr. Shoigu and other senior Russian officials. “We need to proceed from the real situation.”
The remarks echoed those Mr. Putin made a day earlier, when he said that Russia would still prevail, underscoring his apparent belief that Russia had the resources to outlast and exhaust Ukraine and the West.
Mr. Shoigu said that Moscow’s efforts to recruit additional contract soldiers and volunteers had resulted in over 160,000 new service members, although he did not specify the time frame. He said that Russia would form a new reserve army by the end of this month. The Russian Army has lost thousands of fighters in battles like those for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive has claimed a handful of villages but not produced swift breakthroughs against Russia’s heavily fortified lines, a pace that Ukraine and Western military analysts say is not surprising, especially with Kyiv having yet to pour most of its newly trained and equipped forces into the battle.
But Russian officials have sought to project confidence. Mr. Putin, who rarely spoke about the fighting in the early months of the war, has addressed it publicly five times this month, often emphasizing what he says is Ukraine’s failure to achieve its goals.
Following his lead, Russia’s state-run television channels have grown more assertive in recent weeks, repeating the message that the country’s troops can withstand further Ukrainian attacks. Many pro-war Russian activists had feared that the counteroffensive would lead to a repeat of the Russian retreats near the cities of Kharkiv and Kherson last fall.
But dissenters have also emerged. Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner paramilitary group that spearheaded Russia’s effort to capture the eastern city Bakhmut in May, claimed on Thursday that the situation on the battlefield was much worse for Russia.
“What we are being told about Ukraine’s counteroffensive is not true,” Mr. Prigozhin said in a voice message published by his press service, adding: “They have captured significant territories that we have lost.”
He also repeated his frequent criticism of Russian military officials, saying: “What the president gets on his table is a total lie.”
Source – NY Times
