Russian President Vladimir Putin called Ukraine’s three-month counteroffensive “a failure” on Monday after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“This is a failure,” Putin said at the joint press conference.
Since its beginning on June 4, the Russian president has downplayed the counter-offensive in which the Ukrainian army recaptured hundreds of square kilometers of territory.
“Anyway, today is exactly what it seems [um fracasso]. We’ll see how it evolves. I hope it stays exactly the same,” said the Kremlin leader.
Putin estimated the number of casualties Kiev suffered in the tens of thousands as it attempted to regain territory, especially on the southern front to break the corridor connecting the Donbass to the annexed Crimean peninsula.
Meanwhile, outgoing Ukrainian defense minister Oleksi Reznikov assured that Kiev had liberated more than 50% of the Russian-held territory in the first phase of the conflict.
The military offensive that Russia launched in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, triggered the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II (1939-1945), according to the latest UN data.
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – has been condemned by the international community at large, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and to impose on Russia from the political and political side. economic sanctions.
Source: DN
