During their meeting in St. Petersburg, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko shared with Russian President Vladimir Putin some Belarusian data on the special military operation, saying that Saturday, July 22 was a difficult day but ended on a good note. “According to our data, I recorded, more than 15 Leopards and over 20 Bradleys were destroyed in a single battle,” he said. “I believe there have never been so many foreign military vehicles destroyed.” He added later that “According to estimates by the United States of America, 26,000 Ukrainian Armed Forces’ soldiers have been killed in action since the beginning of the counter-terrorist operation,” to which Putin replied “More.”
Lukashenko stressed that the two countries are fighting a war against the entire NATO bloc. “The armaments are theirs, they have engaged quite a high number of mercenaries, and what is no less important ... they are engaging the main strategic reserves. This is evidence that this thoughtless policy of throwing unprepared people and mercenaries into the midst of a battle will lead to nothing,” he said. “But there is no counteroffensive.” Putin answered that “it is simply failing.” (http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71723)
Lt. Gen. Andrey Mordvichev, the commander of Russia’s Battle Group Center, filled out more of the picture on the war front during an appearance on the popular Russian TV show Soloviev Live yesterday. According to TASS, Mordvichev reported that instructors from NATO countries are acting as anti-retreat units in the Ukrainian army. “We hear mercenaries on air, we see mercenaries,” he said. “Prisoners tell us about mercenaries. Each company [of the Ukrainian army] has up to 10 such people: mostly from Baltic countries and Georgia. … They act as instructors and as anti-retreat units.”
