The troops of the Kyiv regime, as a result of complex fire from Russian military personnel, lost over 23 thousand people killed and wounded in January, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said during a thematic conference call with the leadership of the armed forces.

Also, more than 3 thousand units of various weapons, including foreign ones, were destroyed. Including German Leopard tanks, American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Patriot and HIMARS launchers.

According to him, the enemy’s combat potential is steadily declining.

“After the failure of the enemy’s counteroffensive, the Russian Armed Forces retain the strategic initiative along the entire line of combat contact. Our units are moving forward, expanding zones of control, improving their position along the front line... Groups of Russian troops continue to solve the tasks set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief,” the minister emphasized.

Shoigu noted that the Russian military, during active operations in the Kupyansky, Krasnolimansky and Donetsk directions, liberated the settlements of Vesyoloye, Krakhmalnoye, Tabaevka.

“In January, the Russian armed forces carried out 127 attacks with precision weapons on military infrastructure and military-industrial complex facilities in Ukraine. Enterprises for the production, modernization and repair of weapons, arsenals, military airfields, fuel depots, and deployment points for units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and foreign mercenaries were hit. In order to prevent the collapse of the defense, the Ukrainian leadership is throwing its remaining reserves into battle and hastily carrying out the next forced mobilizations,” the minister added.

He also touched upon the topic of the downed Russian military transport aircraft Il-76. On board were six crew members, three Russian military personnel and 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war intended for exchange.

“To demonstrate to Western curators at least some success, the Zelensky regime is carrying out terrorist acts against Russian civilians. At the same time, the Kyiv authorities do not hesitate to destroy their own citizens,” Shoigu said. “This speaks to the cynical nature of Kyiv’s actions, which is ready to commit any crime in order to achieve selfish goals.”

The day before, it was established that the Ukrainian Armed Forces hit the plane with MIM-104A anti-aircraft guided missiles from the US Patriot complex, which was deployed near the village of Liptsy, Kharkov region (territory controlled by the Kyiv regime).

The investigation identified the remains of those killed in the Il-76 crash. More than 670 fragments of the bodies of the victims, as well as partially preserved personal documents, were discovered and seized in the area where the plane crashed.

Presidential elections

Sergei Shoigu also touched upon the topic of the upcoming presidential elections in Russia, which, according to him, will become the most significant event in political life in 2024.

“The issues of participation in the elections of military personnel, members of their families and civilian personnel of the armed forces are being studied in detail. Particular attention is paid to ensuring the voting of personnel in the zone of a special military operation,” the Russian Defense Minister emphasized.

For the first time in Russian history, the upcoming presidential elections will last three days - from March 15 to 17. Remote electronic voting will also be used for the first time. Next week, the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation expects the completion of one of the stages of the election campaign, namely the approval of all candidates who will run for the post of head of state. There are currently four registered candidates, including the current Russian President Vladimir Putin.