Russian officials admit that the conflict in Ukraine will be long | world and science

On Tuesday, the 24th, the Minister of Defense and Secretary of the Russian Security Council hinted that Moscow will have to fight for a long time in Ukraine to achieve the goals of its intervention.

“We will continue the special military operation until all goals are achieved, regardless of the massive Western assistance of the Kyiv regime and the unprecedented pressure of sanctions,” Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a video conference with his colleagues from the former Soviet Union. Union, partly broadcast on television.

According to Shoigu, Russian efforts to avoid civilian casualties “slow the pace of the offensive, but this is deliberate.”

Earlier, in a rare interview with the Russian newspaper Argoumenty i Fakty, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said that military operations will continue as long as necessary. “We are not meeting the deadlines,” he said, before noting that “the goals set by President (Vladimir Putin) will be achieved.”

“It could not be otherwise, the truth is on our side,” he added.

The Kremlin’s stated goals are to “discredit Ukraine” and the security of the mostly Russian-speaking Donbass (east), as Moscow accuses the Ukrainian government of committing an alleged genocide in the region.