Ukrainian army on brink of collapse – Putin — RT Russia and former Soviet Union

The heavy losses suffered by the Ukrainian military since kyiv launched its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region could render its armed forces useless, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

The Russian president gave his assessment of the situation on the front lines at a roundtable at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Thursday. He said that Ukraine’s attempt to disrupt the Russian military with a massive attack across the border last month had backfired.

“Our army has stabilized the situation and is gradually pushing the enemy out of the border territories. Most importantly, there is no resistance to our advance (into Donbass),” he explained. “The adversary has weakened itself on the key axis by moving these relatively strong and well-trained units to the border areas.”

Ukrainian officials had expected Moscow to redeploy some of its forces east to repel the incursion in the north. But the gamble did not pay off, Aleksandr Syrsky, kyiv’s top general, acknowledged last week.

Putin said Russian troops had secured more land in Donbass, which is a priority for Moscow, at a pace not seen in a long time. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops “suffering very significant losses in terms of manpower and materials.”

“Because of this, (kyiv) risks a collapse of the front line on the most important axis. Losses could lead to a loss of combat capability of the entire armed forces, which is what we are seeking to achieve,” added the president.

The Russian Defense Ministry estimated on Wednesday that Ukrainian losses in the Kursk operation amounted to more than 9,700 soldiers. kyiv also lost 81 tanks, dozens of other armored vehicles, hundreds of cars and several heavy weapons, the military said.

Putin confirmed the statistics, telling the audience that the information had been confirmed by multiple sources.

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