Putin admits Russia's shortcomings as Ukraine presses counteroffensive

President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that Russian forces fighting in Ukraine lack sufficient advanced weapons despite a tripling of arms output, as Kyiv’s forces pressed a counteroffensive backed by a new infusion of allied support.
 

Putin made the rare admission of shortcomings in production in a televised meeting with local reporters and war bloggers. He also said Russia had lost 54 tanks since Ukraine’s drive began last week - the first time the Kremlin has admitted losses on such a scale. 

“It became clear that we lack many things - high-precision ammunition, communications, drones,” Putin said. “We have them, but we lack quantity.”

Kyiv is counting on the campaign to drive Russian forces from territory occupied since the February 2022 invasion, strengthening its hand in any peace talks that might follow. So far, Ukraine has reported taking only a few villages as it probes the extensive defensive lines that Moscow’s troops have built and Putin said Russian forces had inflicted “catastrophic” losses on Ukraine’s military. 

In the past, Moscow has frequently been accused of exaggerating its battlefield successes, and western officials were quick to portray the Ukrainian push as far more successful.

The counteroffensive is “making advances,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a visit to Washington Tuesday. At the same time the US announced it’s sending another $325 million in weapons to back up the campaign. The weapons taken from US stockpiles will help Ukraine replace vehicles and munitions that it’s losing in the counteroffensive. They include 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, TOW missiles, munitions for surface-to-air missile systems and communications gear.

“This is still early days but what we all know is the more land the Ukrainians are able to liberate, the stronger their hand will be at the negotiation table and the more likely it is that President Putin will understand that he will never win this battle, never win the war of aggression on the battlefield,” Stoltenberg said.

The alliance chief also met President Joe Biden, who said the bloc faces a crucial moment ahead of a meeting of the alliance’s leaders set for Vilnius, Lithuania next month.

“We’ve strengthened NATO’s eastern flank, made it clear we’ll defend every inch of NATO territory,” Biden said. “At our summit in Lithuania next month, we’re going to be building on that momentum.”

Grain Deal
 

Vowing to achieve his objectives, Putin Tuesday repeated his claim that Ukraine’s counteroffensive hasn’t been successful and showed little indication that he was prepared to negotiate. He railed against Kyiv’s allies for supplying weapons. And in a statement that will provoke fear in nations that rely on food from Ukraine, Putin said Russia is considering leaving the deal that allows Ukraine to ship grain exports from Black Sea ports.

Russia endorsed the deal “to support developing countries — our friends, and in order to achieve the lifting of sanctions from our agricultural sector,” Putin said. “We have been deceived once again. We are now thinking about how we can get out of this so-called grain deal.”

Russia has threatened repeatedly to quit the agreement, which was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last year and extended for two months in mid-May. Even with Russia’s involvement, traffic to Ukraine’s ports has been disrupted, with Ukraine accusing Russia of slow-walking checks and blocking ships destined for one of the three ports in the deal.

The Russian leader spoke after Russia launched fresh missile attacks on Ukraine, killing 11 people in a strike that hit a residential building in Kryvyi Rih, according to officials in Kyiv. 

Putin sought to appear confident, saying his military sees no need for another wave of mobilization after 156,000 contract soldiers and volunteers signed up to fight this year. Last year’s mandatory call-up of 300,000 troops triggered an exodus of Russians.

Any decision on further mobilization now would depend “on what goals we set for ourselves,” Putin said. While many defense factories were working round-the-clock to produce more weapons, “there is still a lot we need,” Putin said. “We need modern anti-tank weapons, we need modern tanks.” 

Russia jails Navalny ally for ‘extremism’

A former campaign leader for jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison on Wednesday for “creating an extremist organisation”. Navalny supporters reacted with outrage to the sentence against Liliya Chanysheva, the former campaign chief for Navalny in the Urals city of Ufa.