Briefing by Chief of General Staff, Valery Gerasimov: Results of Russian Defence Ministry’s 2023 Activities

by Russia [12-21-2023 published].

Briefing by Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, First Deputy Defence Minister General of the Army Valery Gerasimov for foreign military attachés on the results of Russian Defence Ministry's activity in 2023.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen!

Our meeting today concludes official international events of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation in this year.

In my statement today, I will pay attention to situation in a number of regions of the world and completion of the tasks given to the Armed Forces.

At the moment, military and political situation changes rapidly. A new multipolar world is shaping, hegemony of the USA and its allies is left behind in the past.

Washington tries to maintain Western-centred structure of the world order, ensure dominance worldwide, and dictate the terms to the rest of countries oppressing legitimate interests in security sphere.

The USA and its allies are systematically breaking the rules of international law undermining the role of the UN as a key institute, which harmonises relations between nations.

Washington willingly broke all core agreements constituting the framework of the armament control system.

As the West maintains its course towards Russia's strategic defeat, the implementation of confidence-building measures in the field of European security has lost its relevance.

At the same time, the Russian side remains committed to fulfiling its obligations to prevent incidents and maintains the existing lines of communication for crisis management.

The European continent has become an arena of confrontation between the West and the Russian Federation in the political and economic spheres. The accelerated integration of Sweden and Finland into the alliance, the increased military presence of NATO troops in Eastern Europe, the Baltic and Black Sea regions, as well as in the Polar Regions, have a negative impact on the situation in Europe with prospects for increased confrontation.

The intensity of operational and combat training activities conducted by the NATO Allied Forces remains high. Every year, about 40 major exercises are held near Russia's western borders with scenarios based on armed confrontation with our country. Increasingly, the exercises involve states outside the Alliance.

At the same time, the West seeks to create new hot spots and maintain conflicts in the Balkans, Transnistria and Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and Afghanistan.

The situation remains dire in the Syrian Arab Republic, where the continuing activity of terrorist groups together with the sanctions pressure of Western countries led by the United States of America are hindering efforts aimed to restore peaceful life.

In addition, the situation is complicated by the effects of the natural disaster in February this year, which affected more than 8,000,000 Syrians.

The situation remains most critical in the areas outside the control of the legitimate Government in Trans-Euphrates region and Et-Tanf, as well as in the Idlib de-escalation zone, where illegal armed groups continue to launch attacks against government forces and organise terrorist acts against civilians and Syrian security forces.

Illegal extraction and sale of natural resources led by the U.S. continues in the northeast.

It should be noted that irresponsible U.S. policy has led to another round of escalation in the Middle East.

Thus, the long-standing Palestinian-Israeli confrontation has turned into an open armed conflict with numerous civilian casualties on both sides.

The number of casualties now reached tens of thousands, and prospects for resolving the conflict are dim.

The situation in Africa remains dire. The main negative impact on its development is caused by political instability and long-standing internal conflicts in the countries of North Africa and the Sahara-Sahel regions.

Washington's sanctions policy against Russia has provoked a food crisis on the African continent, which is increasing social tensions and public discontent with the ruling regimes.

This has led to an escalation of internal armed conflicts and changes of power in a number of states.

The activity of terrorist and extremist organisations primarily those affiliated with ISIS and Al-Qaeda also has a destructive impact on the situation.

Under these circumstances, the United States and its European allies are engaged in blackmailing African leaders to achieve their neo-colonial goals.

In Transcaucasia, the situation remains tense but has a steady trend towards stabilisation.

In September 2023, thanks to the mediation efforts of Russian peacekeepers, a ceasefire was achieved within twenty-four hours.

During warfare, the Russian peacekeeping contingent ensured the accommodation of more than 10,000 civilians in the places of its deployment, and subsequently guaranteed the safe departure of virtually the entire population of Karabakh to the territory of Armenia. Transport aircraft of peacekeepers delivered almost 300 wounded to hospitals.

At the same time, our military contingent continues to fulfil its tasks as a guarantor of the possibility of building a peaceful life and the return of residents to the region.

On the political track, the Russian Federation is working purposefully to unblock transport communications in the Transcaucasia, conclude a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan, and resolve the most acute Armenian-Azerbaijani contradictions.

The Asia-Pacific region has seen a dramatic increase in conflict potential. Its main reason is the actions of Western countries aimed at undermining the ASEAN-centric multilateral security architecture that has been established here and has proved its effectiveness.

Thus, the creation of NATO-like military blocs in the Asia-Pacific region, such as AUKUS, the U.S.-Japan-Republic of Korea trilateral alliance and other quasi-alliances military in nature bring challenges and threats to the region similar to those that Europe is faced with today.

Interaction within the framework of the AUKUS allows member-states not only to modernise their armed forces in terms of conventional weapons, but also to develop their nuclear component, which is detrimental to the global regime of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

We note the build-up of NATO power potential in the Asia-Pacific region.

It is noted that tensions are escalating around Myanmar, Taiwan, and the Korean Peninsula in accordance with Washington's scenario, territorial disputes are worsening in the South China Sea, and the West is using conflict situations to pump strategic arms into the region.

The United States and NATO have focused on ensuring their dominance in the Arctic and deterring the Russian Federation in the region. To this end, the collective West is increasing its military presence in high latitudes and developing military infrastructure near the borders of the Russian Federation. As a result, the potential for conflict in the region is increasing.

The territories of Finland and Sweden are increasingly being used for the deployment of NATO troops and their operational build-up in areas bordering Russia.

I draw your attention to the fact that the presence of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Arctic is not related to the demonstration of military force, but to ensuring the security of the economic development of the region, including navigation in the waters of the Northern Sea Route and the implementation of projects in the area of exploration and extraction of natural resources.

To this end, we are systematically developing the grouping of troops (forces) in the Arctic, creating and modernising the necessary infrastructure to support its activities.

Additional work has been carried out to streamline the rules for the passage of foreign warships along the Northern Sea Route. In June this year, changes were made to the relevant sailing rules.

The key factor in shaping the military and political situation both at the regional and global levels is the crisis in Ukraine, which is taking place in the form of a hybrid proxy war by the United States and its allies against the Russian Federation. This war is being fought by the hands of the Ukrainian people.

The countries of the collective West ignored Russia's demand for a mutual security agreement and defiantly supported the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev, which unleashed the destruction of the Russian-speaking population of the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics.

For eight years, the West has been actively building up the military potential of the Ukrainian armed forces, pushing Kiev towards a resolution of the conflict in Donbass by force and an invasion of the Crimean peninsula.

Because of that, Russia was forces to begin the special military operation.

Today, Washington's policy is aimed at prolonging the Ukrainian conflict. To this end, Ukraine is provided with significant military and military-technical assistance.

Since February 2022, Kiev has received more than 5,200 tanks and armoured fighting vehicles, more than 1,300 field artillery pieces, 200 multiple launch rocket systems, more than 23,000 anti-tank guided missile systems, 1,200 anti-aircraft missile systems and installations, more than 100 aircraft, 23,000 drones, as well as a significant amount of ammunition of various types. About 100,000 Ukrainian servicemen underwent training in the USA and Europe.

The United Kingdom and France have handed over 200 Storm Shadow and SCALP air-to-ground guided missiles to Kiev, which are used, among other things, to hit civilian targets in Crimea and Donbass.

In October this year, Washington delivered ATACMS operational-tactical missiles to Ukraine to prolong the agony of the Kiev regime.

Despite the large-scale military and financial assistance provided to Ukraine by the West and the total mobilisation of Ukrainian citizens, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are still effectively carrying out tasks to achieve the objectives of the special military operation defined by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

This year, the main task was to repel the AFU's counteroffensive, whose backbone were brigades trained and equipped by Western countries.

The AFU command planned to defeat Russian Groups during the offensive operations. They wanted to deprive Russia of a land corridor to the Crimea.

The enemy was planning to block Melitopol by the end of the 15th day. Later, there were plans for an attack with access to the coast of the Sea of Azov, the city of Mariupol, and the border with Crimea.

In order to achieve this goal, the enemy had concentrated an offensive force of up to 50 battalions, more than 230 tanks and over 1,000 armoured fighting vehicles in Zaporozhye direction by early June. Half of this hardware were modern foreign models. The group was later built up to 80 battalions.

Russian troops carried out large-scale operations to create an echeloned system of engineering barriers, defence lines and positions in order to disrupt the plans of the Ukrainian command.

The AFU, which launched the offensive on 4 June 2023, managed to make some progress in Zaporozhye direction at the cost of heavy losses. The enemy though did not even manage to cross the tactical defence zone of Russian troops.

There has been no change in the situation on the battlefield as a result of additional supplies of Western weapons to the Kiev regime and the introduction of strategic reserves by the Ukrainian command. The number of casualties among the AFU troops only increased as a result of these actions.

Thus, the widely publicised counteroffensive by Ukraine and its NATO allies failed.

For half a year, enemy losses in all directions were about 160,000 troops, over 3,000 armoured fighting vehicles, including 766 tanks, 121 airplanes, and 23 helicopters.

Russian troops are successfully conducting an active defence. They are confidently holding their ground along the entire line of contact and are steadily expanding their zones of control in all directions. The enemy units are continuously inflicted with a fire defeat that prevents the AFU servicemen from moving forward.

Russian servicemen courageously act in the most difficult conditions of the combat situation and effectively perform tasks.

In order to achieve the objectives of the special military operation, long-range precision weapons are used to hit the control points of the AFU troops, defence enterprises, and critical military infrastructure. In total, about 1,500 targets were hit.

A significant decrease in manufacturing products of the Ukrainian military industrial enterprises was one of the results of deploying high-precision weapons.

Operational-Tactical and Army Aviation make a major contribution to the fulfilment of the tasks of the joint force grouping. It is used 24/7 in simple and complex meteorological conditions to search for and destroy enemy forces and assets, and to conduct reconnaissance and combat missions. Since the special military operation began, thousands of sorties have been made using airplanes and helicopters. On a daily basis, the AFU headquarters, command posts, depots with military hardware and ammunition, and AFU positions are shelled.

Air defence forces operate effectively in the special military operation zone. This year they destroyed over 6,300 enemy air targets, including over 4,600 unmanned aerial vehicles, over 100 Storm Shadow guided missiles, up to 90 HARM anti-radiation missiles, 30 Tochka-U operational-tactical missiles, and over 1,400 MLRS projectiles.

The use of various drones has become an integral part of combat operations.

Drones are used around the clock to conduct aerial reconnaissance of enemy troop formations at full depth. They provide location data of detected targets and objective control footage of the target engagement. Russian troops perform missions intended to defeat military infrastructure facilities and the full range of weapons and military hardware. Techniques and methods of their employment are constantly being improved during the special military operation.

Seeing that the AFU is incapable of achieving its battlefield goals, the Kiev regime continues to use terror tactics with tacit approval and often with support of Western intelligence agencies.

Thousands of violations of international humanitarian law have been on record since the beginning of the special military operation.

Missile and artillery attacks against peaceful cities and settlements in the Russian Federation are conducted every day without any justification of military necessity. As a result, residential areas, hospitals, schools, and other social facilities have been destroyed.

Ukrainian forces use tactical missiles, large-calibre artillery, mortars, and MLRS, including banned cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines, to attack civilian infrastructure.

On the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic alone, more than 4,700 (4,755) civilians, including 140 children, have been killed since February 2022. More than 5,000 other people were wounded.

Over 16,000 residential houses and nearly 3,500 civilian infrastructure facilities were destroyed or damaged, including some 700 educational and over 200 medical facilities.

Attacks on journalists and administration officials of the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions remain commonplace for the Ukrainian leadership.

Ukraine is not giving up its attempts to carry out acts of nuclear terrorism and is systematically sending unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with explosive devices to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant and the city of Energodar.

In May, Ukrainian saboteurs attempting to blow up power lines at the Leningrad and Kalinin nuclear power plants were thwarted.

In the current situation, the Russian Ministry of Defence continues its planned activities to strengthen the country's defence capabilities.

During the year, the Armed Forces addressed the challenges of increasing combat potential, improving personnel training and methods of managing troops and weapons, and providing troops with modern weapons and military hardware.

The Strategic Nuclear Forces continued their planned rearmament with the Yars and Avangard missile systems. They also modernised their long-range aircraft to ensure the deployment of modern long-range precision cruise missiles.

Another Borei-A nuclear submarine cruiser, the Emperor Alexander III, armed with Bulava ballistic missiles, joined the Navy.

The proportion of modern weapons in the nuclear triad was increased to 95%.

Taking into account the experience of the special military operation, the necessary measures have been taken to improve the composition and structure of the Armed Forces and to enhance the capabilities of the general-purpose forces.

Two strategic territorial formations of the Armed Forces – the Moscow and Leningrad military districts – are created in response to NATO expansion.

According to the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the gradual increase of the composition and size of the Armed Forces was continued, and their full-time strength was increased to 1,320,000 troops.

Two combined-arms armies and fourteen formations have been formed in the Land Forces.

In order to build up the capabilities of the Russian Federation's aerospace defence system, three formations of the Russian Aerospace Forces have been established.

The Navy has received four submarines and eight surface ships of various classes. To fulfil missions in oceanic and maritime regions, modern warships are being built.

The country's defence industry complex is multiplying its capabilities, providing the aviation, navy, and land forces with a full range of armament, missiles, and ammunition.

This year, more than 1,500 new and modernised tanks and some 3,000 armoured fighting vehicles have been delivered to equip the troops. Over 230 aircraft, over 80 types of ground-to-air weapons, and over 20,000 drones of various classes and types were delivered to the troops.

The Russian Ministry of Defence has continued to increase the pace of cooperation with foreign militaries within the framework of military and military-technical cooperation, despite Western attempts to isolate Russia in the international arena. More than 600 major events have taken place this year.

Particular attention was paid to the consolidation of reliable and mutually beneficial bilateral relations within the framework of the Union State, CSTO, and CIS, as well as with friendly states in the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.

The development of a comprehensive strategic partnership with China and India is on track. An active and comprehensive co-operation has been established with the DPRK.

With the participation of more than 600 troops from 12 countries, the ADMM Plus anti-terror exercise was successfully conducted. The ADMM Plus Expert Working Group on Humanitarian Mine Action until 2027 is co-chaired with Laos.

This year, the Armed Forces intensified operational and combat training with foreign partners. In total, 17 international exercises were organised and attended.

The most significant combat training events in which Russian troops participated were the Maritime Interaction joint naval exercise with the People's Republic of China and the Interaction 2023 operational-strategic exercise, as well as CSTO format military exercises in Belarus and Kyrgyzstan.

The annual ARMY Military and Technical Forum was attended this year by delegations from the defence ministries of 83 foreign states, including 41 delegations headed by defence ministers and their deputies.

Around 200 bilateral meetings have been held with partners in other countries. More than 28,000 samples of military and dual-use products were exhibited by almost 1,500 domestic and foreign companies and organisations.

The 11th Moscow Conference on International Security took place in August. The event was attended by more than 800 delegates from 76 countries and 6 international organisations.

The conference discussed issues of global security in a multipolar world. It also looked at the interaction of military agencies in modern conditions.

In order to ensure the peaceful socio-economic development of Russia, next year we will continue to work on creating conditions for stabilising the situation at the global and regional levels, as well as on the progressive and balanced development of the Armed Forces.

Military cooperation with foreign militaries continues to be one of our priorities. Active military delegation exchanges and joint operational and combat training with friendly defence ministries are planned. We are looking forward to the active participation of the military attachés in maintaining constructive cooperation.

In conclusion, I would like to congratulate you on the upcoming Christmas and New Year 2024. My best wishes for health, peace and prosperity for you and your nearest and dearest.

Thank you for attention.