Russia's Putin said at a ministerial meeting of the Ministry of Defense on the 19th that Western countries will not give up their attempts to strategically contain Russia and achieve aggressive goals in Ukraine, and Russia will not give up the goals of the special military operation.
Putin said that Western countries continue to wage a hybrid war against Russia, actively providing real-time intelligence to Ukraine, sending military advisers, transferring modern ** systems, etc. NATO countries have recently increased dramatically, US troops have moved to the Russian border, and the number of NATO troops in Central and Eastern Europe has increased. Finland has been "dragged into" NATO, Sweden plans to join NATO, and NATO's approach to the borders with Russia has entered a new phase.
Putin said that the Russian army has seized the initiative in the special military operation, the enemy has suffered heavy losses, and the myth of the invincibility of the military equipment of Western countries has been shattered.
Putin also said that the United States is concerned about the development of relations between Russia and Europe and uses Russia to intimidate European countries, but the Russian side has never intended to clash with European countries and does not have such intentions at present.
According to the Ukrainian National News Agency 18**, the commander of the Ukrainian "Tavria" combat group, Alexander Tarnavsky, said in an interview that the reduction in foreign aid has led to a shortage of artillery ammunition on the front line of the Ukrainian army, and the Ukrainian army has been forced to readjust the combat plan and reduce the scale of the operation. Tarnavsky said that the shortage of ammunition for Soviet-style artillery of 122 mm and 152 mm caliber is particularly acute, and this problem exists throughout the front line of the Ukrainian army.
He said that the Ukrainian army has moved to the defensive in parts of the southeastern front. The Russian army achieved "partial success" in the Avdeyevka direction in the east, and the Russian army advanced 15 km to 2 km.
*: Xinhua News Agency, CCTV news client.