Shoigu: Russia will respond harshly to the hostile actions directed against it

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu affirmed today that his country will respond harshly to the hostilities that target it. His remarks came on the backdrop of the attack carried out by Kiev regime using drones on the outskirts of Moscow.

Shoigu said in a video conference for staff in the Ministry of Defense today: “The attack that was carried out by the Kiev regime included eight drones, three of which were shot down by electronic warfare, and five other drones were shot down by the Pantsir missile system and anti-aircraft guns.”

The Russian Defense Minister explained that “Kiev carried out a terrorist act in the Moscow region targeting civilians, and the Russian armed forces will respond to these acts  as hard as possible.”

He pointed out that “during the anti-terrorist operation in the Belgorod region, more than 70 terrorists were eliminated and Ukrainian vehicles as well as armored vehicles were destroyed.”

Shoigu confirmed that “the Ukrainian forces have lost more than 16,000 military personnel, 16 aircraft, five helicopters, 466 drones, more than 400 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, in addition to 238 units of field cannons and mortars since the beginning of May 2023.”

Shoigu added, “196 HIMARS missiles, 16 HARM missiles, and 29 long-range Storm Shadow missiles were destroyed.”

In a related context, Shoigu considered that the Western countries are calling on Kiev to launch a large-scale attack and said: “Despite the heavy losses of the Ukrainian armed forces, Western sponsors continue to demand that the Kiev regime move to large-scale offensive operations and promise to increase supplies of equipment and weapons to Ukraine.”

Shoigu revealed that Russia monitors the volumes and routes of these supplies, and when they are discovered, such weapons will become a target for Russian bombing.

He said: “In recent days, large warehouses of Western weapons have been destroyed in Khmelnitsky, Ternopil, and Nikolaev, and the American Patriot missile system in Kiev has been targeted.”

Shoigu stressed that “Western support for Ukraine only prolongs the duration of hostilities, but cannot affect their results.”

The Russian Minister of Defense pointed out that Russia is working on improving the methods of using air technologies and mastering the use of new equipment and weapons, and said: “Work is also underway to start operating a new system for collecting, processing and reporting information about air-technology events.”

NR