There are at least 420,000 Russian soldiers in the occupied territories of Ukraine This was stated by the Deputy Head of Ukrainian Intelligence, Vadym Skibitsky, at the conference on Yalta European Strategy made in Kiev.
He said that this is a low estimate and that, in any case, it does not include the Russian National Guard troops (which do not depend on the Ministry of Defense), other security forces, mercenaries, paramilitaries, and others.
Among other speakers from the Ukrainian side, head of Ukrainian Military Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, openly admitted Ukrainian involvement in drone attacks on Russian territory.
Kyiv initially denied any involvement in such operations, but has recently been somewhat open about it.
“If you analyze what was hit (in the Ukrainian attacks, ed.), say, in the Moscow region, in the Tula region, etc., they are all enterprises of the military-industrial complex. And if what I want to emphasize , this is important, and this is the difference that distinguishes us from the Russians. No civilian was injured, no matter what they say.”Budanov stated.
In addition, Budanov assured that the Ukrainian counter-offensive will continue despite the bad weather conditions expected at the end of autumn and winter.
The Yalta European Strategy is a forum established in 2004 to discuss the goals of Ukrainian Eurointegration between politicians and businessmen, and initially, as its name suggests, it was held in the city of Yalta, in Crimea. After the annexation it had to move, but it continued. Despite the war, the forum continued to attract many personalities, such as Boris Johnson.
An attack by 32 Russian drones at night
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Ukrainian military claimed to have shot down 25 explosive drones out of 32 launched by Russian forces on Saturday night, mostly in the region of Kiev.
According to the military administration of kyiv, a floor was damaged by falling debris, as well as cars and trolleybus cables. One person was injured, but his life is not in danger, he wrote on Telegram.
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