• Defennse Minister of Russia brainstorms with Armed Forces leaders

Moscow. 15 August 2022. The Minister of Defense of Russia held a conference call with the leadership of the Armed Forces recently.  At the National Center for Defense Control of the Russian Federation, under the leadership of the head of the military department, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu, a conference call was held with the leadership of the Armed Forces.

Before proceeding to consider the issues on the thematic agenda, the Minister of Defense congratulated the paratroopers on the Day of the Airborne Troops, and then spoke about the course of the special military operation in Ukraine.

In particular, he recalled that after taking control of the territory of the Lugansk People’s Republic, the Donetsk People’s Republic is planned to be liberated. Recently, the settlements of Grigorovka, Berestovoye, Stryapovka, Pokrovskoye, Semigorye and Novoluganskoye have been liberated. The Uglegorsk TPP, the largest in Europe, with a design capacity of 3,600 MW, has come under the control of the RF Armed Forces. The Russian Armed Forces continue to cover civilian targets in the liberated areas from enemy air attack weapons.

Last month alone, 34 Ukrainian aircraft were shot down, 39 missiles of the Tochka-U complex were intercepted, as well as 226 shells of multiple launch rocket systems, including foreign-made ones. This saved thousands of civilians. “Uncontrolled deliveries of Western weapons to Ukraine seriously threaten the security of the region,” Sergei Shoigu said.

In total, as a result of strikes by Russian troops on military facilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 33 American M777 howitzers, 5 launchers of Harpoon anti-ship missile systems, as well as 6 launchers and more than 200 missiles of Hymars multiple launch rocket systems were destroyed. Also, over the past two weeks, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost 396 Javelin and EnLo anti-tank missile systems, 125 Stinger portable anti-aircraft missile systems.

Further, the minister dwelled on the participation of Russian military personnel in the work to establish a peaceful life in the liberated areas and settlements of the DPR, LPR and Ukraine. “In total,” he said, “about 1,400 humanitarian actions were carried out, during which over 50,500 tons of humanitarian aid were delivered.”

In addition, military builders are rapidly restoring civilian infrastructure in the liberated territories. In the shortest possible time, a water conduit with a total length of about 90 km was built. It provides water supply up to 50 thousand cubic meters for residents of Donetsk and adjacent areas. Construction of two more water conduits for 60 km for the population of the DPR and LPR is underway.

Vital facilities are being erected and reconstructed in a planned manner. Among them are 12 residential buildings with more than 1,000 apartments, two multifunctional medical centers with a total capacity of 260 beds, as well as an administrative and rescue center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

“In the current military-political situation, the consolidation of the efforts of the international community in the fight against neo-Nazism is of particular relevance,” Sergei Shoigu said.

Ministry of Defense decided to hold the First International Anti-Fascist Congress. Representatives of seventy-four friendly countries are invited to participate in it. The work will involve federal authorities, international and Russian public organizations, religious associations, historians, cultural figures and the media community.

The Congress is called upon to become a platform for defending the historical truth about the decisive contribution of the USSR to the defeat of fascism during the Second World War, as well as for countering the spread of Nazi ideology.

It will be held as part of the ARMY International Military-Technical Forum, which for the eighth year has been demonstrating the high capabilities of our weapons and military equipment, as well as the achievements of the domestic military-industrial complex in the production of military products.

To date, about 50 foreign defense departments have expressed their desire to attend the Forum. About one and a half thousand enterprises and organizations, including foreign ones, are planning to present samples of their products. Developments in the field of artificial intelligence, radio electronic and information technologies will be demonstrated. For the first time, visitors will be able to see remotely controlled modules and weapons equipped with them.

 

It is planned to sign and hand over 36 state contracts with enterprises of the Russian defense industry for an amount exceeding 522 billion rubles. 289 scientific and business events will be held, which is almost twice as many as last year.

The head of the military department recalled that this year the Forum will be held for the first time simultaneously with the Moscow Conference on International Security, which traditionally gathers military professionals and authoritative experts in the field of defense from all over the world. This will be the tenth anniversary conference. The heads of foreign defense departments, heads of international organizations, experts and representatives of academic circles from 109 states are invited to it. The agenda includes the most pressing topics of global and regional security.

Preparations are underway for the Eighth International Army Games, which will be held from August 13 to 27 on the territory of 12 states. More than 270 teams from 37 countries will take part in them, including two new ones – Bolivia and Rwanda. For the first time, one of the competitions of the Games – “Sniper Frontier” – will be held on the American continent, in Venezuela.

Traditionally, the Fan Club and the Museum of the International Army Games will operate in the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center, samples of captured and advanced Russian military equipment will be demonstrated.

The minister stressed that the listed international events proved their practical benefits. “All of them,” he said, “certainly contribute to the expansion of interaction, the possibilities of military-technical cooperation, maintaining a dialogue with our foreign partners on a wide range of issues.”

At the end of the meeting, Sergei Shoigu proposed to consider how the sale of movable military property, which has no prospects for use in the Armed Forces, is proceeding. He noted that the solution of this problem makes it possible to reduce the cost of maintaining and protecting such property and at the same time replenish the revenue side of the federal budget. So, starting from 2021, more than two hundred thousand tons of scrap metal, 112 thousand car tires and other property have been sold for a total amount of more than 6.5 billion rubles. The minister suggested discussing how to make this work even more efficient.