The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has lasted for more than two years, and at the latest meeting of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced brilliant results, saying that the Ukrainian army has lost nearly 500,000 casualties so far. It is worth noting that just a few days ago, the White House announced a new round of aid to Ukraine, and the scale of this aid reached 61 billion US dollars. To this, Shoigu's response was also simple, the Russian Armed Forces will continue to fulfill the assigned tasks. In other words, no matter how much Western countries support Ukraine, Putin will still fight.
On April 23, at a working meeting of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Russian army is taking the initiative on the front line and is repelling the enemy, while the Armed Forces of Ukraine are unable to hold their positions. In addition, Shoigu also announced the brilliant results of Russia's special military operation, with the Ukrainian armed forces losing about 500,000 people, Russia shooting down 22,000 drones and more than 860 planes on the Ukrainian side, and intercepting 3,549 "Hippocampus" rockets and 361 "Vampire" rockets.
It is worth noting that just one day before Shoigu attended the defense meeting, the Senate of the US Congress approved a bill on aid to Ukraine of up to $61 billion. At first glance, the funds involved in the aid bill are very large, and there is a lot of posture for the United States to stand out for Ukraine. But a closer look at where these funds are going shows that the vast majority of these funds go to the pockets of the US military-industrial giants themselves.
Of the $61 billion in aid bills, $23.2 billion was first used to "replenish the depletion of U.S. previous aid to Ukraine." In other words, U.S. aid to Ukraine has never been free, and all the arms aid provided by the U.S. to Ukraine before and after the special military operation was counted on Zelensky's head. What makes Zelensky even more embarrassed is that most of the military equipment provided by Western countries to Ukraine is expiring or even expired, such as the "Javelin" anti-tank missile, which is frequently exposed to battery problems and cannot be launched normally, and the Humvee armored vehicle with a depleted battery and a faulty instrument, etc.
In addition, $11 billion was spent on "military operations by the US military" and training for the Ukrainian army. Earlier it was reported that a significant number of Ukrainian troops are trained by NATO countries, and now it seems that the cost of this "training fee" is extremely high. Only $13.8 billion has been allocated to Ukraine for the purchase of military equipment, and as is customary, this money may still have to be credited to Zelensky.
It can be seen that the vast majority of the $61 billion in aid funds provided to Ukraine by the Biden administration were left in the United States, whether it was to make up for the inventory of the U.S. military or to help Ukraine purchase weapons and equipment, and the final flow of funds was to the military-industrial complex in the United States.
Regarding the new round of aid bills passed by the United States, Shoigu also responded in his speech at the National Defense Conference. Shoigu said that the US move was to prevent "the collapse of the Ukrainian army", but the money would not have a significant impact on the situation on the battlefield, because the vast majority of the money was used for US military production.
Although more than two years have passed since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, this large-scale conflict has not stopped, but has signs of intensification. First of all, the Russian armed forces have taken control of four Ukrainian oblasts, namely Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, and the Ukrainian side has lost one-sixth of its territory. And with the beginning of a new round of military operations, the front of the Russian armed forces is still expanding, which may lead to the loss of more territory in Ukraine in the coming period.
The second is that NATO is deploying more troops to the Russian border, according to the data released by the Russian side, NATO currently deploys about 33,000 people and more than 1,100 tanks and armored vehicles in the Russian border area. Just earlier, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, said that France was ready to send a contingent of about 2,000 people to Ukraine. For NATO's military deployment, Naryshkin's strong response to the French deployment of the contingent will be a priority target.
It can be seen that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is already facing the risk of escalation, and if the conflict cannot be effectively quelled, NATO and Russia may face the conflict head-on. However, in the face of various threats from NATO, the Russian side does not seem to be willing to compromise, and at the meeting on the same day, Shoigu said that Russia will increase its strikes on Ukrainian military targets, including logistics centers and assembly points for Western military supplies to Ukraine. "The Russian Armed Forces will continue to carry out the assigned tasks until the set goals of the special military operation are fully achieved". Considering Shoigu's identity, this to a certain extent reflects the Kremlin's attitude towards the Russia-Ukraine conflict and even NATO's military power.