Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke about what many believe is the beginning of Ukraine’s highly anticipated counteroffensive saying that his army does not have a sufficient amount of modern weapons. As Kremlin officials and several reports said that Ukraine launched its counteroffensive against Russia, Kyiv remained silent on the same with officials saying in the recent days that offensive strikes do not signal the start of the military campaign.
“We can state with absolute certainty that this Ukrainian counteroffensive has begun, and the use of strategic reserves points to it,” Vladimir Putin said during press conference in Sochi, according to the Russian state media outlet RT.
Putin “acknowledged that Moscow’s troops are facing shortages of modern weapons, and expressed hope that the country’s military industry will soon be able to satisfy growing demand,” the report claimed. However, the Russian leader didn’t offer any further specifics about the modern weapons he feels the country is lacking.
Experts had earlier speculated that Vladimir Putin could soon run out of weapons, while many reports have suggested that his military has resorted to pulling old tanks out of storage due to heavy losses of armored vehicles in Ukraine.
Guy McCardle, managing editor of Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP), told Newsweek “it is out of character for Putin to admit” that Russia lacks modern weapons.
“Specifically, they’re running short on main battle tanks and ballistic missiles. This is evidenced by the fact that they are using so many glider bombs today. They still have cruise missiles, but these, of course, are very expensive, and they just can’t be firing them off at will. This is due to international sanctions that affects the parts that are used to make the weaponry,” he said.
“The Ukrainian troops did not achieve their goals and objectives in any of the areas of hostilities,” Vladimir Putin said, per Tass, adding that it is not known “whether the [Ukrainian] offensive has bogged down or not.”
