“In total, since the beginning of the month, the enemy has lost over 13,700 people, about 1,800 units of various weapons and military equipment,” Shoigu told a Ministry board meeting.
All attempts by the Ukrainian armed forces to conduct a landing operation in the Kherson direction are unsuccessful, Shoigu said.
“All attempts of the Ukrainian armed forces to conduct a landing operation in the Kherson direction were unsuccessful. Thanks to the proactive and professional actions of our military personnel, units of the marine corps and special operations forces of Ukrainian troops are suffering significant losses,” the minister added.
Additionally, the Russian armed forces are holding positions along the entire line of combat contact in the military operation zone, gradually improving their positions, the minister stated.
The minister issued his last assessment of Ukrainian casualties in late October, when he said they had surpassed 90,000 since the start of Kiev’s ill-fated counteroffensive in early July. During this week’s meeting, Shoigu described the cost paid by Ukrainian soldiers in the conflict as “colossal.”
Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top general, previously stated that the conflict with Russia had reached a “stalemate” and that his armed forces would likely not achieve a breakthrough in the confrontation anytime soon. President Volodymyr Zelensky has disputed the assessment, claiming that progress was still being made in his nation’s attempt to return Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders.
On Monday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Kiev to meet Zelensky and announce Washington’s latest package of military assistance, worth some $100 million. The Pentagon, however, has warned that it is running out of money authorized by Congress to be spent on Ukraine.
Moscow has described the Ukraine conflict as part of a US-led proxy war against Russia, in which Ukrainians are used as “cannon fodder”. Anatoly Antonov, Moscow’s ambassador to Washington, called the latest package of aid “a sedative pill” for the Zelensky government, as it edges closer to complete collapse.
