Russia prepares acceleration in war with Ukraine in 2024. Moscow's 'plan' is illustrated by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, while the conflict on the ground continues towards the 2-year mark. Fighting continues especially along the eastern front, where the picture does not seem to propose significant changes.
Russia's objective, in an apparently blocked framework, is to maintain the strategic initiative in Ukraine: to do so, Moscow will focus on the all-round supply of its forces.
Shoigu, in a teleconference with top military leaders, underlines that Moscow will maintain
its nuclear triad (land-based missiles for long-distance targets, submarine-launched missiles and aircraft-launched nuclear bombs), will develop the production of drones, introduce new weapons – promising the use of weapons based on artificial intelligence – and increase capabilities of its satellites
. With this strategy, Russia aims to change the situation in a war in which, according to Moscow, Ukraine has lost over 215,000 soldiers and 28,000 vehicles, equipment and equipment.
“Despite the depletion of human resources and the absence of results on the battlefield, the United States cold-bloodedly tries to realize its global leadership ambitions at the expense of Ukrainian lives. On the instructions of Western sponsors, the Kiev regime continues to send its soldiers to slaughter and seeks every possibility to replenish the army. Of course, this will not change the situation on the line of contact, but will only drag out the military conflict,” says Shoigu.
A key task for 2024 is to maintain the nuclear triad at the highest level of combat readiness, the minister says. “We will also focus our efforts on fully replenishing the troops participating in the special military operation. We will continue to equip the Army and Navy with the most cutting-edge weapons, including those based on artificial intelligence technologies and new physics principles. In particular, we will launch the mass production of unmanned aerial vehicles, from ultra-small drones to heavy attack ones”, he specifies.
“Our immediate plans include improving communications systems, increasing efficiency in the use of the latest reconnaissance assets, target acquisition and increasing the capabilities of our air defense systems and fleet of satellites”, he says again.
Speaking in a teleconference with the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces, Shoigu argues that Kiev's search for opportunities to replenish the ranks of the Ukrainian army will only prolong the military conflict: “At the instigation of Western countries, the Kiev regime continues to lead its soldiers to slaughter and is looking for every opportunity to replenish the ranks of the Ukrainian army. Of course, this will not change the situation on the military line of contact and will only prolong the conflict. Despite the depletion of human resources in Ukrainian formations and the lack of results on the battlefield, the United States is trying to realize its world leadership ambitions at the expense of the lives of Ukrainians.”
All smooth sailing for Russia, then? No, on the contrary. Shoigu's narrative is contrasted with the analysis of British military intelligence. London highlights that the Russian war machine has more than one flaw, in particular in this last period “the ineffectiveness of the Russian air defense in protecting key sites” stands out, as also highlighted by the Ukrainian attacks on 4 December against Sevastopol and the airfield Saki, in occupied Crimea.
These attacks probably “degraded” the effectiveness of Russian air defense over the Crimean region, notes the daily bulletin on the war in Ukraine. “In response, Russia launched several missile attacks across Ukraine on January 8, targeting several cities, including Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia. This once again demonstrates the ineffectiveness of Russian air defense in protecting key sites, despite their strengthened preparedness. The scale of the Russian response is likely indicative of the level of success achieved by the Ukrainian Armed Forces' actions on 4 January,” concludes British military intelligence.
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