Russia will ramp up strikes on Western weapons delivered to Ukraine, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday following the U.S. Congress’ long-delayed approval of fresh military aid to Kyiv.
“We shall increase the intensity of strikes against logistics centers and storage facilities of the Western armament,” Shoigu told the ministry’s advisory board.
“Russian servicemen [have] defused the myth of the Western weapons’ superiority,” Shoigu said, adding that Russia would continue producing “the most in-demand weapons and military hardware in proportion to the threats posed by the United States and its allies.”
His comments came after the U.S. House of Representatives unblocked a $61-billion military aid package for Kyiv on Saturday following six months of political wrangling.
Shoigu described Washington’s aid as an effort by the U.S. defense industry to profit off of Russia’s war in Ukraine and accused Washington of using Ukrainians to “die for its interests.”
In the more than two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Shoigu claimed that Ukraine has lost “almost half a million” troops.
Russia has not disclosed its wartime casualties since September 2022. Independent Russian media has been able to identify more than 50,000 Russian soldiers who were killed in Ukraine, but the real figure is believed to be much higher.
