Russia's claims of advancing in Ukraine amidst controversy says Shoigu

Since the start of the year, Ukraine has been experiencing increasing losses, according to the defence minister of the Russian Federation, Sergey Shoigu. In a speech that was widely regarded as propaganda following a meeting with the military leadership, he claimed that the Russian army was driving the Ukrainian forces westward.

Many statements from Russian media or government officials are seen as propaganda, forming a part of the information war waged by the Russian Federation.

Since January, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost over 80,000 soldiers and 14,000 units of various types of weaponry, including over 1,200 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, Sergey Shoigu declared during a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces.

In his speech, Shoigu claimed that following the failure of a Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2023, Ukrainian forces tried to establish positions on various fronts without success.

Russia claimed its first victory in nine months in February by seizing Avdiivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. Now, according to Shoigu, Russian troops "continue to push the Ukrainian units" westward.

The American Institute for the Study of War has noted that Russian forces recently moved westward and southwest from Avdiivka. Geolocational recordings, for instance, have shown that troops from the Russian 9th Motorized Rifle Brigade reached the western outskirts of the village of Vodyane to the southwest of Avdiivka.

"If the Russians achieve a strategic breakthrough, they will encounter emptiness in operational depth. They can advance both far and deep. This is the most serious threat, a worst-case scenario," told Wirtualna Polska Gen. Roman Polko.

The British weekly "The Economist" has reported that Russians are gearing up for an offensive that is expected to commence with the arrival of summer. The situation at the front is reportedly extremely challenging for the Ukrainians.

Source: RIA, PAP