Published On 4/6/2026
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that his country’s forces are attacking Ukraine on all axes and points of contact, and that they have tested their weapons in this war, stressing that Kiev does not have the weapons that Moscow has.
He added during a meeting with heads of international news agencies in St. Petersburg that the Ukrainian army lost 100,000 soldiers during the recent period, and thousands more fled.
He continued that Russian forces now control the entire Lugansk region, 85% of the Donetsk region in the Donbass region (east), and 80% of the Zaporozhye region (southeast), and that the Kiev government “is gathering men from the streets and throwing them on the fronts, which has added 40,000 new casualties to the ranks of its army.”
Putin confirmed that the Ukrainian government is forcefully mobilizing about 60,000 people every month, and talked about 20,000 Ukrainians fleeing the battlefield every month, which led to a decline in the number of troops and population in some areas.
Soldiers fleeing war
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Kiev has imprisoned up to 200,000 people on charges of desertion, while Russian forces control up to 2,440 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory.
Putin accused those he described as Western financiers of providing many drones to Ukraine, stressing that some of them were able to penetrate Russian air defense systems, which he said were strong and their strength must be strengthened.
He pointed out that Ukraine “does not have anything that Russia has,” saying that Kiev possesses air defense elements such as Patriot missiles, of which it suffers a severe shortage, but it does not possess a complete system like Russia possesses of cruise missiles or guided missiles.
He also pointed out that Ukraine does not have a private military industry like the one that helps Russia achieve success, reiterating his readiness to hold technical consultations with Kiev.
Putin said that Russia was testing old missiles in this battle, but it had never tested the “Oreshnik” hypersonic missile, adding, “We were striking specific places to see the result.”
He added, “In Lugansk, for example, when we sent exploratory missions to monitor the results of these strikes, we found that the territory was completely open, and therefore we decided to use Oreshnik with its full capabilities in other areas.”
End the conflict
Regarding a possible settlement, the Russian President said that his country did not obtain answers to some of the questions it raised during the discussions that took place under the auspices of the United States, and that it was ready to end the conflict naturally if Ukraine accepted some matters, without clarifying them.
Putin reiterated his emphasis on the possibility of resolving the conflict if Kiev agrees to settlements based on the Alaska Understandings, accusing the Ukrainian government of being “not interested in resolving the conflict.”
He considered that there is no conflict between Russia’s control over the Donbass region and concluding an agreement with Kiev, and that Moscow does not oppose Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, “but it opposes the Union turning into a military bloc.”
Negotiating with Europe
In response to a question about relations with Europe, Putin said that his country did not stop supplying energy to the Europeans, and that the Europeans were the ones who stopped purchasing from it because they believed that everything would be destroyed in Russia, as he put it.
He added, “We do not refuse to negotiate with Europe, but we do not know who will represent it in any negotiations. They say that Russia wants to impose a specific negotiator on Europe.”
Putin stressed that Russia “does not impose anything, and wants representation of all countries, and then it can talk at the level of foreign affairs and security,” saying that communication “continues at this level, and we welcome everyone who cooperates with us.”
