Following Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement of a partial mobilisation on Wednesday morning, Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu spoke in detail about the current status and progress of the military operation.

The Russian army is „fighting not so much against Ukraine, but rather the West, collectively,” which „is supplying Ukraine with weapons in huge quantities, Sergey Shoigu has said, adding that some 70 military and over 200 civilian satellites, the entire NATO constellation, are working in the interest of Ukraine, while Kyiv uses Western weapons against civilians ever more frequently.”

According to Russia’s defence minister, Ukraine has lost half of its army: 61,207 soldiers died and 49,368 were wounded. He estimated the number of Russian victims at 5937, and said that according to his information, 90 per cent of the soldiers wounded on the battlefield can be redeployed.

Regarding the partial mobilisation announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Shoigu said that it primarily concerns those who have already served in the military, or have military training and battlefield experience. The mobilisation does not extend to conscripts or trainees.

There are many Russians, around 25 million people, who are available for mobilisation, and the current partial mobilisation only affects around 1 percent of them (some 300 thousand people).