Russia Values Ukraine's Retaliatory Attacks Not Going As Planned And Wasting Western Weapons

Ukrainian military illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Ministry of Defense of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - Russia said Ukraine's retaliatory attacks did not go as planned and squandered billions of US dollars worth of weapons supplied by the West.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in his remarks at a military conference said Ukraine was "deadly mobilizing new forces" to attack Russian positions, but failed to advance.

Meanwhile, Ukraine says it has made gradual progress, although slower than they would like, since launching a counter-attack in early June against Russian troop positions.

After 17 months of war, Ukraine came under pressure to achieve significant gains on the battlefield, after receiving deliveries of Western tanks, rocket systems, and other hardware.

Russia, for that reason, has repeatedly described this retaliatory attack as a failure, although still in a very early stage.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the "billion-dollar resources transferred by NATO countries to the Kyiv regime, are actually spent inefficiently and aimlessly."

He said this was the reason why Kyiv used "depthful acts" such as a drone strike against Moscow's business district on Sunday.

Despite Peskov's comments, the fact that enemy drones have reached the heart of the Russian capital in the past three months, although it has not caused major damage, makes it uncomfortable for authorities who have told the public Russia is in full control of what it calls a "special military operation" against Ukraine.

Peskov told reporters "all possible measures" were being taken in Moscow and elsewhere to protect Russia from similar attacks.