NATO using entirety of military potential against Russia: Putin

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NATO is currently using almost all of its potential against Russia, and Moscow must develop its knowledge and understanding of the West's weaponry systems, experience, and tactics to bolster the fighting potential of the Russian armed forces, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.

"All the information about NATO forces, the means which are actively used in the course of the special military operation [in Ukraine], to oppose us are well known," he said.

However, as NATO pumps arms into Ukraine, a State Department cable obtained by Politico last week said the Biden administration is running into major obstacles tracking the aid sent from Washington to Kiev, which has amounted to tens of billions of dollars since the start of the Ukraine war, resorting to blockchain technology and Ukrainian personnel to help them track the aid flowing into their country.

The cable, sent out from the US embassy in Kiev back in September, details what the United States is going through in terms of oversight as it tries and watch where its money is going as they abide by the restrictions and limits on the number of officials they can have in the field as well as the security measures prohibiting them from moving flexibly.

Meanwhile, weapons overused by the Ukrainian military are either being wiped out or damaged during the conflict.

At least one-third of the 350 US-made howitzers sent to Ukraine are already out of action, according to defense officials in the US.

The Pentagon has also sent Ukraine 142 M777 howitzers, which is enough to supply 8 battalions.

Moreover, in addition to burdening the US with requests for aid, Ukraine is selling weapons it acquired from its allies on the black market due to the Kiev forces' limited ability to use them because of their lack of training, logistical challenges, and the diminishing size of the Ukrainian armed force, according to former senior Pentagon adviser Karen Kwiatkowski.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu previously said the arms supplied by the West to Ukraine were ending up on the black market and spreading across West Asia. This validates the Pentagon's concerns, as sensitive technology being sent to Ukraine would not be the best for the US on the long term.

"You have all this information before you, and it must be thoroughly analyzed and used in the construction of our armed forces to increase the combat capabilities of the troops, as well as Russia's special services," Putin underlined.

Meanwhile, Putin ordered the MoD and the General Staff to carefully analyze the "tremendous combat experience" gained amid the Ukraine war to "systematize it as quickly as possible and include it in programs and planning for the training of personnel, troops as a whole and supplying the forces with the necessary equipment."

According to the Russian President, the United States and its allies are spending significant resources on information and psych-ops against Russia, which includes Western media publishing "thousands" of fake news stories regarding Moscow as they cover up for the war crimes the Ukrainian side is committing.

Russia's geopolitical opponents are using "everything that is not tied down" against it, including attempts to brainwash the Ukrainian public and other post-Soviet republics in the wake of the USSR's collapse in 1991.

The process of brainwashing is still ongoing, Putin said, noting that Russia sought to become a part of the so-called "civilized" world, though it learned not too far down the line that its peers were not expecting it at the table.

Furthermore, Putin stressed that his country would continue to amass conventional military capabilities while also supporting and modernizing its nuclear triad, Putin said, calling the latter a means by which Russia helps preserve "strategic parity and the overall balance of power in the world."

"This year, the level of modern weapons systems within the strategic nuclear forces reached 91 percent. The re-equipment of the Strategic Missile Forces regiments with modern missile systems featuring the Avangard hypersonic warhead is continuing," the Russian Supreme Commander-in-Chief said.

Putin then went on to underscore that the goals of the military operation would be met and that Moscow would assure the security of all of Russia's territories.

Putin, commenting on the military operation, underlined that the ongoing war has demonstrated that the use of drone warfare has become somewhat "ubiquitous", highlighting that Moscow would have to arm itself with an interlinked arsenal of drones incorporated into every echelon, from companies and battalions to individual squads and platoons.

"In the near future, every individual soldier should have the opportunity to receive information transmitted by drones. We must push for this, strive for this," the president said after asking his colleagues to honor the memories of the soldiers who had lost their lives in Ukraine with a moment of silence. "Targets need to be detected as quickly as possible, and information must be transmitted [immediately] to carry out strikes in real-time."

Russia is capable of fully realizing this, pointing to the defense sector's experience in developing unique underwater drones, which might be in reference to the Poseidon nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable torpedo.

Additionally, Putin called on Moscow's defense ministry to pay more attention to public criticism and initiatives for improving its work being floated by civilians. He asked the ministry to consider public criticism and respond accordingly and in a timely manner. 

"It's clear that the reaction of people who see problems, (and problems in such large and complex work always appear) can be emotional, but it's necessary to listen to and hear out those who do not seek to hush up existing problems but to contribute to their resolution," Putin concluded.

Earlier in the day, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that as NATO expands toward the East and even the North, namely Sweden and Finland, in addition to the build-up of the potential of the alliance's countries, it is a necessity that Russia takes retaliatory measures to create an appropriate grouping of troops in the country's northwest.

"Given NATO's desire to build up military potential near the Russian borders, as well as to expand the North Atlantic Alliance at the expense of Finland and Sweden, retaliatory measures are required to create an appropriate grouping of troops in northwestern Russia," he explained.

In detail, the defense minister said Moscow would be obliged to create two new inter-service strategic associations of the Armed Forces - the Moscow and Leningrad military districts.

Currently, there are talks about Finland and Sweden joining the alliance. On July 5, the permanent representatives of NATO member states signed accession protocols for the two Scandanavian countries at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels.

All members of the bloc have to ratify the protocols according to their national legislation.

Out of all the NATO members, Hungary and Turkey are the only countries that still did not clear Sweden and Finland's accession. 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said late last month that Parliament plans to ratify NATO membership for Finland and Sweden in early 2023.