The Armed Forces of Ukraine failed in all four directions of their counter-offensive and suffered heavy casualties, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The enemy was not successful in any of the directions. They have heavy losses," Putin said during a meeting with military correspondents.
The president mentioned that the Ukrainian military is currently attacking at the Shakhtarsk and Vremivka directions 'but fail to reach the front line". In total, Ukraine is attacking from four directions, the Russian president added.
"This is a large-scale counteroffensive using, as I said quite recently publicly, reserves prepared for these purposes. It has been going on since [June] 4, and continues to this day, right now," Putin said.
The Russian leader also said that Kiev was responsible for the tragedy at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP), adding that Russia did not see large explosions at the HPP in the Kherson region, but Ukraine deliberately targeted it with HIMARS missiles, or perhaps some kind of explosives were planted there.
Putin indicated that Ukraine's losses amount to 25-30% of the volume of equipment delivered from abroad by Western countries, adding that the Ukrainian military lost at least 160 tanks and 360 armored vehicles during the counter-offensive. Meanwhile, he noted that the Russian side also lost about 54 tanks in the Ukrainian conflict zone.
The president also suggested that the defense industry of Ukraine will completely cease to exist in the near future, as Kiev imports all weapons. He added that Russia is gradually engaged in the process of demilitarization of Ukraine.
"Ukraine's defense industry will soon completely cease to exist. What are they producing? They are importing ammunition, equipment, weapons, everything. So one cannot live and last long. That is why the issue related to demilitarization is in a very practical dimension," Putin said.
Putin emphasized that Moscow did not exert any influence on Kiev, but tried to seek normal relations. However, he noted that his government will never accept the current situation in Ukraine, as Russia does not tolerate anything neo-Nazi.
"We wanted, and we still want, to have the best relations with all our neighbors after the collapse of the Soviet Union. And we do so, we have come to terms with... Well, that's what's happened. We have to live with it," Putin told journalists.
On the possible need for a mobilization in his country to support the Russian Armed Forces in the conflict zone, the leader indicated that there is "no current need" for such an action. He noted that the Russian military lacks many things, including high-precision weapons, communications equipment, UAVs, but only in quantity.
Putin noted that Russia's production of the main types of weapons has increased by 2.7 times, for weapons in demand by 10 times. He added that since the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine, the Russian army has signed service contracts with 150,000 people, in addition to about 6,000 volunteers, with 9,500 contracts signed last week.