Vladimir Putin admits that Russia lacks high-precision ammunition and drones

“We have some, but not in sufficient quantity, unfortunately.” Vladimir Poutine admitted, Tuesday June 13, a lack of high precision ammunition and drones in the arsenal of Russia. “It became clear that several things were missing“, added the Russian president, during a meeting with Russian war correspondents.

Vladimir Putin thus recognized that his country had not sufficiently prepared for attacks on its soil from Ukraine. “Of course it is necessary to strengthen the border (…) It was possible to be better prepared for this”he said, as Russia had to evacuate thousands of people after a massive incursion and strikes in recent weeks, including in the Belgorod region.

“Catastrophic” losses inflicted on the Ukrainian counter-offensive

Despite these shortcomings, Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that his forces were crushing the Ukrainian counter-offensive, at a time when kyiv is claiming, on the contrary, first territorial gains. It is the second time since Friday that the Russian president has said that his army is repelling the assault that Ukraine has been preparing for months, with supplies of Western weapons, to drive Russian troops out of occupied Ukrainian territories. “The (Ukrainian) losses are approaching a level that can be described as catastrophic”, said Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian losses were “ten times less”.

According to him, kyiv lost “about 25% or maybe 30% of the equipment” provided by the West, advancing the figure of 160 tanks and more than 360 armored vehicles. On the Russian side, he admitted the loss of 54 tanks, some of which are repairable. However, these figures remain unverifiable from independent sources. Russia also communicates very little about its own losses, despite several retreats since the start of its attack on its neighbor.