Putin admits Russian military needs more modern weapons to win war in Ukraine – rare admission of wrongdoing

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that Russia needs more modern weapons.

• He had previously boasted of the sophistication of Russia's arsenal.

• There are reports that Russia suffered significant equipment losses.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted that the Russian military must modernize its weapons if it wants to win the war in Ukraine.

In a statement published on the Kremlin website on Friday, Putin said the Ukrainian offensive had begun and Russian forces were successfully resisting it.

He explained that this was due to the “good command of the troops and the high effectiveness of Russian weapons, especially modern weapons.”

He then admitted that Russia needed to increase its supply of modern weapons, an important remark in light of reports that Russian troops on the front line were using obsolete Soviet-era equipment.

“We do not yet have enough modern weapons, but the defense industry and the military-industrial complex are developing rapidly and, I am sure, all the challenges facing our defense industry will certainly be met. We are intensively developing the production of modern weapons,” Putin said.

Putin's concession marks a stark departure from his previous remarks on Russia's military arsenal, with the Russian president boasting last August of being “years, even decades” ahead of his rivals.

That claim was contradicted by analysis by Western officials, Insider reported in April, which said that amid heavy losses of troops and equipment, Russia had resorted to tanks and other weapons. the Soviet era.

Ukraine said it had liberated three villages in the southeast of the country as part of its counter-offensive. He accuses Russia of blowing up the Kakhovka dam last Monday to slow its progress, forcing Ukraine to evacuate thousands of civilians.

Ukraine has received sophisticated weapons from its NATO allies, including American-made HIMARS missiles and German-made Leopard tanks, but on some fronts Ukrainian forces are reportedly using dilapidated weapons.

According to Russian state media guidelines for coverage of the counteroffensive recently obtained by independent Russian media outlet Meduza, the publications were instructed to tout Ukraine's weapons advantages, so that Russia could presenting yourself as an outsider and presenting even modest successes in a positive light.

Analysts told The Associated Press in a report released Monday that Russia has learned from its mistakes and improved its weaponry in Ukraine.

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