TASS, 12/16/24

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. This year has been “a pivotal year” in terms of achieving the goals of the special military operation, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a Defense Ministry Board meeting.

He also pointed out that the country will continue to develop its nuclear potential.

TASS has compiled the Russian leader’s key statements.

On special military operation

The outgoing year “was pivotal in achieving the special military operation goals.”

The Russian Armed Forces hold “a strong strategic initiative across the entire line of engagement in the special military operation zone.”

Russian servicemen have liberated 189 settlements in the special military operation zone over the year.

It is necessary to keep pushing the pace in the special military operation zone.

The situation on the battlefield will not change even if Ukraine lowers the call-up age to 14.

On Ukrainian authorities

Russia is not at war with the Ukrainian people, but with “the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev that seized power back in 2014.”

The problem between Russia and Ukraine stems from “the bloody anti-constitutional coup” in Kiev in 2014.

The Kiev regime commits crimes against the Ukrainian and Russian people on a daily basis.

The regime of Vladimir Zelensky does not protect the interests of the Russian people.

“It seems that this regime is losing all the characteristics of statehood.”

On unstable situation in world

The military and political situation in the world remains “uneasy and unstable.”

The incumbent Washington administration and the West continue to try to rule the world, and continue “imposing on the world their so-called rules, which they change time and again in their interests.”

“The US continues to send weapons and money to the actually illegitimate ruling regime in Kiev, sends mercenaries and military advisors, thus encouraging further escalation of the conflict.”

The essence of what the US is trying to do with regard to Russia is to push it to its red line and then scare the American people with claims of a Russian threat.

On US, NATO aspirations

“NATO’s aspirations long ago went beyond the so-called zone of historical responsibility.”

“In addition to the so-called eastern front, the alliance is expanding its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Encouraged by the United States, new military and political alliances are being formed, undermining the security architecture that has existed for decades.”

NATO countries are increasing defense spending and are forming strike groups with servicemen from the alliance’s countries.

The US plans to deploy intermediate range high-accuracy weapons are worrisome.

Russia will drop its voluntary restrictions on the deployment of intermediate-and shorter-range missiles if the United States begins deploying such weapons.

Russia is forced to take additional measures to ensure its security, but it will not get involved in a full-fledged arms race: “Our approach here is careful and prudent.”

On development of Russian Armed Forces

Russia now has up to 1.5 million servicemen in the Russian Armed Forces.

This year, about 1,000 people are signing up to join the military every day. “People are going to the front voluntarily.”

On nuclear deterrence

The proportion of state-of-the-art weaponry in Russia’s strategic nuclear forces has reached 95%.

Russia adheres to its policy of nuclear deterrence in its updated nuclear and by no means indulges in saber rattling.

Moscow will continue to support the potential and balanced development of its nuclear forces.

“It is important to keep non-strategic nuclear forces on constant alert and to continue the practice of holding exercises.”

***

Transcript of Putin’s Meeting with Defense Ministry

Kremlin website, 12/16/24 (AI generated translation)

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Comrades,

Today, as part of an expanded meeting of the Defence Ministry Board, we will discuss the main results of work for 2024 and identify tasks to strengthen the defence capability and further develop the Armed Forces.

I note right away that the outgoing year has become a landmark in achieving the goals of the special military operation. Thanks to the professionalism and courage of our soldiers, the heroic work of employees of defense enterprises and the truly nationwide support of the army and navy, the Russian troops firmly have the strategic initiative along the entire line of contact.

This year alone, 189 settlements have been liberated. I would like to sincerely thank our heroes: the soldiers and officers who are fighting selflessly and steadfastly on the front line, the personnel of the Defence Ministry, the National Guard, our special services and other law enforcement agencies who are clearly carrying out all the tasks set, no matter how difficult they may be, who do not spare themselves, do not spare their lives for the sake of victory, for the sake of the Fatherland.

Our duty is to always remember our comrades who died defending the Motherland and our people, to surround their families and children with constant care. I have said it many times and I will repeat it again: their children are our children. We must never forget this.

I ask you to observe a minute of silence in memory of our fallen comrades.

(A minute of silence is announced.)

Thank you.

Dear members of the board!

Today, the military-political situation in the world remains difficult and unstable. Thus, the bloodshed in the Middle East does not stop, and the high conflict potential remains in a number of other regions of the world.

We see that the current US administration and almost the entire collective West are trying to maintain their global dominance and continue to impose their so-called rules on the international community, which they change over and over again, twisting them as it suits them. As a matter of fact, there is only one stable rule: there are no rules for those who do this, for those who consider themselves to be the head of the whole world, for those who consider themselves to be the Lord’s representatives on earth, although they themselves do not believe in the Lord.

And against undesirable states, [they] are waging hybrid wars, implementing a policy of deterrence, including against Russia. In an effort to weaken our country and inflict a strategic defeat on us, the United States continues to pump weapons and money into the de facto illegitimate ruling regime in Kiev, sending mercenaries and military advisers, and thereby encouraging further escalation of the conflict.

At the same time, under the pretext of a mythical Russian threat… They simply frighten their own population by saying that we are going to attack someone, because the tactics are very simple: they bring us to the red line, through which we can no longer retreat, we begin to respond, and immediately frighten their population – then, in ancient times, with the Soviet – now Russian threat. Meanwhile, NATO countries themselves are increasing military spending. Near the Russian borders, strike groups of alliance troops are being formed and cobbled together. Thus, the number of American military personnel in Europe has already exceeded 100 thousand people.

NATO’s aspirations have long gone beyond the so-called zone of its historical responsibility. In addition to the so-called eastern flank, the alliance is increasing its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. At the instigation of the United States, new military-political alliances are being formed, which undermine the security architecture that has developed over decades.

No less concerned are the activities of the United States to create and prepare for deployment in the forward zones of high-precision ground-based strike weapons with a range of up to 5,500 kilometers. At the same time, the transfer and deployment of these missile systems in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region are already being practiced.

Let me remind you that such measures were previously prohibited by the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, which was terminated at the initiative of the United States. We have repeatedly stated that the termination of this treaty will lead to negative consequences for the entire global security, but at the same time we stressed that we will not deploy intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles until American weapons of this kind appear in some region of the world. In fact, Russia took these obligations unilaterally. But, as I have already said, if the United States starts deploying such systems, then we will lift all our voluntary restrictions.

Given the growing geopolitical tensions, we are forced to take additional measures to ensure the security of Russia and our allies. We are doing this carefully and carefully, without being drawn into a full-scale arms race to the detriment of our country’s socioeconomic development.

We are paying serious attention to improving the combat strength of the Armed Forces and building up their capabilities. As part of these tasks, the Leningrad and Moscow military districts and a number of new units and formations have been formed. The staff strength of the Armed Forces has been increased to 1.5 million servicemen.

The army and navy are being re-equipped with modern weapons and equipment at an accelerated pace. For example, the share of such weapons in strategic nuclear forces has already reached 95 percent.

At the same time, we have clarified the basic principles for the use of nuclear weapons, which are set out in the updated Basic Principles of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence. I would like to emphasise once again that no one should accuse us of rattling nuclear weapons: this is a policy of nuclear deterrence.

Along with the nuclear triad, general-purpose forces are developing at a high pace. The troops are receiving advanced robotic systems, including the use of artificial intelligence technologies. Among them are reconnaissance and attack drones, unmanned boats and multi-purpose robotic platforms.

Today, it is important to continue the progressive, systematic development of the army and navy, to achieve the goals of the special military operation, to be ready for a prompt and effective response to potential challenges to the security of our country. At the same time, it is necessary to focus on solving the following priority tasks.

First. Of course, strategic nuclear forces remain one of the key tools for maintaining stability and protecting Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We will continue to support their potential and balanced development, and work to create new systems and complexes of deterrence forces. Along with this, it is important to keep non-strategic nuclear forces in constant combat readiness, to continue the practice of conducting exercises with the development of issues of their use.

Second. I have already spoken today about the risks associated with the deployment of intermediate-range missiles by the United States in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. We will respond to such threats in a comprehensive manner. At the same time, the most important task is to ensure the timely detection of the launch of such missiles and their interception. At the same time, it is necessary to debug all the issues of serial production and deployment of such domestic strike systems, including hypersonic ones.

As you know, Russia’s latest powerful weapon is the Oreshnik medium-range missile system. In November, in response to strikes on the territory of our country using Western weapons, it was successfully used: a ballistic missile in non-nuclear hypersonic equipment was used. In the near future, serial production of such complexes should be ensured to protect the security of Russia and our allies. And this will certainly be done.

Third task. It is necessary to more actively introduce the experience gained during the special military operation into the combat training of troops, as well as into the programs of higher military educational institutions. At the same time, it is necessary to improve the methods of conducting military operations, clarify the fundamental statutory documents, increase the level of mastery of weapons and equipment, as well as the effectiveness of command and control of troops, especially at the tactical and operational-tactical levels.

And I would like to emphasise once again that talented officers and sergeants who have proved themselves in a difficult combat situation should become the basis of the command staff of the Armed Forces, as well as become teachers of military educational institutions.

Fourth. The experience of conducting a special military operation should be fully taken into account when determining the priority areas for the development of domestic weapons and equipment, the tactics of their use. For example, high-precision weapons systems use new methods of guidance at the final section of the missile flight, which made it possible to use them against complex and fortified objects, and to use them successfully.

The noise immunity of the onboard equipment of missile weapons has been significantly increased, and new methods of delivering flight tasks have been worked out. In the future, it is necessary to calculate them in real time for promptly identified targets – an extremely important task for our military-industrial complex. I will say more about this.

Another important innovation was the direct exchange of information between the units directly involved in the special operation and defense industry organizations – which I have just mentioned. As a result, for a number of products, the average time to eliminate the identified shortcomings is now five to seven days. But this is not enough: we need to do it even faster.

There are also positive changes in the organisation of the repair of equipment, its fine-tuning taking into account the requirements of the combat situation. But of course, there are also problems, they remain, and they need to be consistently resolved. And, of course, we must continue to do everything necessary to accelerate the introduction of advanced technologies and other innovations in the military sphere.

Fifth. To reduce the time for decision-making when managing units on the battlefield, an interspecific information exchange system based on mobile devices has been created and has shown its effectiveness. More than six and a half thousand such systems have already been delivered to the troops. As a result of their use, the time for setting tasks has decreased by one and a half to two times. Now, due to the introduction of advanced developments of the defense industry, it is necessary to form a single information loop as soon as possible, combining reconnaissance and destruction means at the strategic, operational and tactical levels of management.

Sixth. It is necessary to increase the production of robotic systems and unmanned systems of various classes and types. At the beginning of the special operation, we had problems in this area: some samples turned out to be expensive and difficult to operate. Today, several thousand drones for various purposes enter the troops every day. It is necessary to continue to improve their combat and operational characteristics. It is equally important to train the operators of such complexes, to train them according to programs developed on the basis of the experience of real combat operations.

And the seventh. We need to continue to expand military and military-technical cooperation with allies and partners, with those who are ready and willing to work with us, and these are the majority of countries in the world.

Comrades,

I have already spoken today about the enormous support of the army and navy from Russian society. People understand what we are fighting for, what we are defending, they help front-line soldiers and join their ranks themselves. This is an extremely important thing that reflects the state of our society.

Here is a figure: this year, on average, more than 1000 people enter military service under contract every day. People voluntarily go to the front. And the social guarantees of servicemen and their families must be constantly strengthened and developed. This is the most important, systemic task of the state.

Yes, a lot has been done in this area in recent years. This year alone, more than 55,000 servicemen have been provided with housing, and in the next three years, it is planned to allocate another 113 billion rubles to provide housing subsidies to military personnel.

The savings and mortgage system demonstrates high efficiency. Over the 20 years of its operation, more than 202 thousand servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have been provided with housing. I would like to add that it is necessary to continue to equip military camps and, of course, to increase the level of medical support.

The priority in the work of all authorities should be to resolve the social issues of the participants in the special operation, to take care of the families of those who died – I already spoke about this at the beginning – and those who were seriously injured during the hostilities. This should be the focus of our attention. It is necessary to delve into the problems of each of our comrades-in-arms, his family and really help solve their problems. This is the task of the Defence Ministry, the Government of the Russian Federation, and all leaders at all levels of government.

In conclusion, I would like to once again thank all the participants in the special military operation for their valor, courage and heroism, and wish the personnel and civilian personnel of the Armed Forces, the leadership of the Defence Ministry success in their service, in their difficult and responsible work aimed at protecting Russia’s sovereignty and national interests and the security of our people.

I am sure that you will continue to adequately solve all the tasks assigned to you.

Thank you for your attention.

Vladimir Putin: As usual, allow me to say just a few words – to conclude this part of your work.

The minister spoke about the illegitimacy of the regime in Kyiv, with which we are at war. I would like to emphasise once again that we are not at war with the Ukrainian people, but with the regime – the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev, which seized power back in 2014. This is the source of power – a coup d’état.

All the troubles of both Ukraine and Russia began just after this bloody anti-constitutional coup d’état. This matters today because these people who are in power commit crimes against their own people and against ours every day. This regime has generally lost – at least it is obviously losing – the signs of statehood.

When we talk about illegitimacy, what do we mean? Did you not go to the elections? They did not go. Does the constitution make it possible to extend the powers of the president? No. The Constitution makes it possible to extend the powers of only the representative body of power – the Rada, that’s it. And the reference to martial law does not matter: there are no ways in the constitution to extend the powers of presidential power.

And where is the supreme court? Where is the Constitutional Court? A legitimate question. The chairman of the supreme court is in prison – they just keep silent about it, no one talks about it, but he was put behind bars. The powers of the Supreme Court include, among other things, the cancellation of unauthorized decisions of the president. Several cancellations took place, after which they were sent to prison. And the head of the regime immediately, on the same day, announced: he will be imprisoned. As you know, in all civilized countries, only the court determines whether a person is guilty or not guilty, whether he will be imprisoned or not. No, representatives of the administrative bodies said here: he will be imprisoned. This is the supreme court.

There is also a constitutional one. Do you know what happened to the Constitutional Court? The security guards have stopped letting the chairman of the Constitutional Court go to work – they are simply not allowed to work. In the end, the Constitutional Court as a whole was paralyzed, and the Chairman of the Constitutional Court himself went abroad, where, as far as we know, he is provided with state protection in the country of his residence, since there is a threat to his life.

Are these signs of statehood? No, these are just signs of the loss of statehood. Therefore, crimes are committed one after another.

I think that the next crime will be the reduction of the mobilization age to 18 years. This is exactly a crime, because even if you reduce it to 14, as in Hitler’s Germany, creating a “Hitler Youth”, it will not change the situation on the battlefield. This is clear to everyone.

But I think that at the behest of those countries whose interests are protected by the Kiev regime – it does not protect the interests of the Ukrainian people, this is already obvious today – at the behest of those whose interests it serves and defends, they will also reduce mobilization to 18 years old – and the boys will be driven to slaughter. Just as today people are caught on the street, like stray dogs, during forced mobilization, and today they are driven under bullets, so they will drive the boys, it seems to me. And then these figures of this regime will simply flee abroad under the cover of those whose tasks they are carrying out today, that’s all. Most likely, this will be the case.

Some figures of the past, recent years have already fled – they are already abroad, this is well known. And they feel good, because they stole money from the Ukrainian people, stole it from their pockets. And all these “pockets” are also abroad, with those sponsors who keep them on this hook: they stole money, accounts there, everything – and they dance to any music, performing any tasks.

It seems to me that this will continue until we achieve the goals of the special military operation.

He said what is happening with mobilization in Ukraine, and you all know this very well. He mentioned that in this sense we have personnel. Last year, over 300,000 of our citizens, our men, came to the military registration and enlistment offices and signed contracts for service in the Armed Forces – over 300,000.

This year, at the moment, there are already over 430 thousand, and this flow of volunteers does not stop. Thanks to this attitude to the fate of our country, to the fate of our children, we are doing what I have said and what Defence Minister [Andrei Belousov] was talking about: in fact, this is a turning point on the line of contact and our combat activity, a complete interception of the strategic initiative. But, of course, this is not enough.

By the way, when I spoke about these crimes, I was referring not only to crimes against the Ukrainian people, primarily against our people, including in the Kursk Region and other border regions.

Yes, of course, from a military point of view, no matter who you talk to, everyone, both our and foreign experts, believes that there is a gamble in Kursk, so they say: “Kursk adventure.” This is obvious, because there is no sense in what the Kiev regime is doing in the border regions. But from the point of view of crimes against the peoples of Russia – this is an obvious thing – this is a crime. This is especially true of the suffering of the civilian population.

Here, of course, the sacred duty of the Armed Forces is to throw the enemy out of our territory. The task of the military justice bodies is to record all these crimes, especially against the civilian population. And the task of the special services is to find and punish the criminals.

Now, as for how much money we spend and what it results in, an extremely important thing, of course. The minister said: we spend 6.3 percent of GDP on the military component – on increasing and strengthening the defense capability. This is decent money, it is about 2.5 percent higher than we used to spend. But these are not the largest, oddly enough, costs in the world – even among countries that do not have any armed conflicts.

Nevertheless, this is a lot of money, and we need to use it very rationally, very rationally, ensuring first of all social guarantees for our servicemen and the effective operation of the defence industry. And what is very important is the rational use of what the country gives to the Armed Forces: this applies to social services, equipment and weapons. It is very important to receive everything in a timely manner, to assess competently what comes in, to be able to use it and train personnel, to train people who know how to do it – they do it competently and effectively.

There are a lot of tasks here. On the whole, they are being resolved – both in what is happening in the people’s agro-industrial complex, as we are saying now, and in what is happening right on the line of contact. And we need to set up our entire military organisation for such joint work to achieve the final result.

In this regard, the latest types of weapons, including those that are well-known both in our country and abroad. First of all, I mean medium-range weapons. You all remember well and know that the Soviet Union decided to eliminate ground-based intermediate-range missiles. And the Americans did the same with their Pershings.

But the Americans, in addition to ground-based intermediate-range missiles, also had the same sea-based and air-launched missile systems, while the Soviet Union did not. Therefore, to a certain extent, we went for unilateral disarmament. A potential enemy left these systems at sea and in the air, and we did not receive anything at all.

Но в наше время, в российское уже, мы создали гораздо более современные, чем у США, комплексы морского базирования. Это и «Калибры», это и гиперзвуковые комплексы «Цирконы». Создали новейшие ракеты средней дальности воздушного базирования Х-101 с дальностью, которая кратно превышает то, что есть у вероятного противника, – свыше 4000 километров. И эта система может быть оснащена и специальном боезарядом, то есть ядерным.

And finally, the Oreshnik system, which has already proven itself well, is very powerful. I would like to repeat once again – specialists know this, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces Sergey Karakayev is here, he thinks so and told me about it – when used in a complex manner, when several systems are used in a group at the same time, it is comparable in power to the use of nuclear weapons. But it is not nuclear, since there is no nuclear fuel, no nuclear component, no contamination. And this is a very important element when deciding what means of armed struggle we can use.

But we must watch very carefully what is happening in other countries, what is being put into service or may be put into service in the near future, in the near future in other leading military countries. So, as we have done so far, we must act precisely in the near future and in the medium term.

Let me return once again to what was just said: we spend 6.3 percent of GDP on increasing and strengthening our defense capability. In order for all components in the country, all components of the state’s life – the economy, the social sphere in the broadest sense of the word, science, education, healthcare – to develop, we also cannot pump up these expenses to infinity, increase them to infinity.

I say this so that we all understand: the state, the Russian people, give everything they can to the Armed Forces to fulfill the tasks that you and we face. And our task is to ensure the security of the Russian people, to ensure the security of our people and the future of Russia.

I really hope that the pace that has been picked up in recent months on the combat contact line will be maintained. I want to thank you for your service and wish you all the best.

Thanks a lot.