The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin hinted that he could order his troops to try to seize more land in Ukraine to protect Russian territory on the border, while asserting Ukrainian forces have suffered ‘catastrophic’ losses in a new counter-offensive.
The Russian president spoke in-depth about the conflict on Tuesday in front of military journalists and bloggers, just as Ukrainian officials assert they have already taken a number of villages in the initial stages of their counterattack.
He said that over recent days of fierce fighting, Ukraine lost 160 tanks and more than 360 other armoured vehicles, whereas just 54 tanks have been lost by Russia since Kyiv launched the new offensive. These assertions were not readily corroborated.
Referring to Ukrainian incursions and shelling of Russia’s Belgorod and other border regions, Putin said his military would take moves to stop such attacks, and if Kyiv persists, ‘We will have to consider creating a sanitary zone in Ukraine to prevent it from striking our territory.’
In recent weeks, Russia’s border areas have come under increasing attack, with the Kremlin blaming Ukrainian forces for raids and drone attacks. Local leaders in Russia have pleaded with the Kremlin to do more to protect their residents, some of whom have been evacuated to safer areas.
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Putin said there is no need for an additional mobilisation of men to fight in Ukraine for now, but said any further troop call-ups would depend on what Russia wanted to achieve there. “There is no such need today.”
Last year, some 300,000 reservists were called up in what the Russian president cast as a ‘partial mobilisation’.
‘Some public figures say we need to get one million or two million,’ Putin said. ‘It depends on what we want.’
Discussing Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, which Russian troops failed to take in the early stages of the war, Putin asked, ‘Should we return there? Why am I asking such a rhetorical question? It is clear there is simply no answer to this – I can only answer it myself.’
Putin said there was also no need to follow Ukraine’s example and declare martial law.