MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s large-scale counter-offensive had not been successful in any area and that Ukrainian human losses were 10 times bigger than Russia’s.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive began on June 4, Putin told a televised meeting of Russian war correspondents and military bloggers.
Ukraine had lost over 160 of its tanks and 25%-30% of the vehicles supplied from abroad, Putin said, while Russia had lost 54 tanks.
Putin said Ukraine had deliberately hit the Kakhovka dam with HIMARS rockets, which the United States had supplied, a step he said hindered Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
The goals of what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” might evolve with the situation, but their fundamental character would not change, Putin said.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
