In addition, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost 543 tanks and almost 18 thousand armored vehicles, the Russian President said.
Ukraine is suffering heavy losses during its counteroffensive – 71.5 thousand personnel and 543 tanks, said Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Ukraine is carrying out a so-called counter-offensive. There are no results, of course. Now we won’t say – failure, not failure. There are losses, big ones. Since the beginning of this counter-offensive, the loss of personnel is 71.5 thousand people,” Putin said, speaking at Vostochny Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday.
“For tanks, 543 tanks have already been lost; for armored vehicles of various classes, almost 18 thousand have already been lost, and so on,” he added.
Putin also said that Russia cannot stop fighting while Ukraine is carrying out a counter-offensive.
“From many sides, those people with whom we communicate, (who – IF) would like to act as mediators, say: “Are you ready to stop hostilities?” Well, how can we stop hostilities if the other side carries out counter-offensive,” the head of state said.
“What should we do? They will counter-attack, and we will say: “Are we stopping?” We are not Trotskyists: “The movement is everything, the final goal is nothing,” this is a bad theory,” the Russian President added.
