Vladimir Putin’s top military aide, Sergei Shoigu, was left red-faced after he admitted the Ukraine war had backfired on Russia.
The Russian Defense Minister used a department meeting to lay bare how the obstacles Moscow faces have ramped up in the months since its invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
He used his opening remarks to the meeting to describe how there was a “manifold increase in the threats to Russia’s military security in the western and northwestern strategic directions”.
Despot Putin and his country face a host of sanctions from some of the country’s biggest powerhouses, while also taking major hits by Ukraine during its ongoing conflict.
Another problem Russia has faced is the enlargement of NATO, with the likes of Finland joining the military union’s ranks in a bid to bolster its defences to tackle Moscow’s threat.
With Sweden also set to join, it has left the leader of the Kremlin in an embarrassing position – particularly as he claimed the Ukraine conflict came as a result of NATO’s bid to become bigger.
To add to the woe for Russia, NATO members laid out a blueprint of what it would do in the event of a direct war with Russia, the first time such a plan had been hatched since the Cold War.
Shoigu used a speech on Wednesday to the defence ministry to discuss Russia’s current plight but stopped short of blaming a larger NATO for destabilizing Moscow.
He said that NATO’s bolstered military unions meant the alliance would be “capable of hitting critical targets in the northwest of Russia.”
Newsweek reports that the minister also moaned about Poland’s militarization, hailed as “the main instrument of the United States’ anti-Russian policy”.
A US State Department spokesperson said Washington would “continue to focus on helping Ukraine succeed on the battlefield.”
In a statement, the department added: “Our allies and partners have been clear, though, that we are committed to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend their country against Russia’s aggression.”
It concluded: “NATO is more united right now than it has been in decades.”
Shoigu also used the speech to attack key nations in the West, including the likes of Britain, the US and South Korea, for its investment in purchasing weapons, tanks and combat aircraft.
The US in particular “is steadily raising the stakes, seeking ever more long-range and deadly weapons from its allies,” the minister claimed.
He added: “These threats to Russia’s military security require a timely and adequate response.”
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