JAKARTA - Russia's Defense Minister said Ukraine's ability to wage war was "nearly depleted," citing the ongoing war that exposed vulnerabilities in Western weapons systems.
Speaking at a security conference in Moscow attended by Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the Ukraine conflict was a serious test for Russia.
"In this special military operation, the Russian army has shattered many myths about the superiority of Western military standards," Defense Minister Shoigu said in a rare public address, according to the text provided by his ministry.
"Preliminary results of the combat operation show that Ukraine's military resources are running out," said Defense Minister Shoigu, one of President Vladimir Putin's strongest allies, without providing detailed evidence to back up his assertion.
Shoigu further said he would share details about the weaknesses of Western weapons and that no one was immune.
"We have data on... the destruction of German tanks, American armored vehicles, British missiles, and other weapons systems," he said.
"We are ready to share our assessment... with our partners," he said.
The Russian invasion has wreaked havoc across eastern and southern Ukraine, killed or injured hundreds of thousands of people and triggered the biggest rift in Russia's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
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Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of war crimes, calling the Moscow invasion an imperial-style land grab. Instead, the Kremlin perceives this conflict as an existential battle with the West, who wants to divide Russia.
The West considers the war to be Moscow's biggest strategic blunder since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, with Western leaders saying they want to defeat Russia on the Ukrainian battlefield. The Ukrainian counteroffensive has so far failed to produce any major territorial success.
Russia meanwhile says it will achieve all of its goals in Ukraine, which it sees as a puppet of the West. Moscow has also repeatedly indicated it is ready for a long war.
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