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Russia will "cease to exist" if Moscow loses the war in Ukraine, a state media guest has said, as Ukraine pushes on with its counteroffensive against Moscow's troops.
"Right now, we're in a situation where either we win in this war, or we cease to exist as a people and a nation," according to Pyotr Tolstoy, the deputy chairman of the lower house of Russia's Parliament.
Moscow has framed its invasion of Ukraine as a "special military operation" designed to "de-Nazify" the country, a claim which has been broadly rejected by Kyiv and the international community.
"Either they destroy us or we destroy them," Tolstoy added during a broadcast with Russian state television host, Artyom Sheynin, in a clip translated by the Russian Media Monitor account run by journalist Julia Davis.
"Let me reiterate: the fate of our country is at stake," Tolstoy continued. "It's either us or them."
Ukraine sees the war as a fight for its survival, a view often reflected by Ukraine's global allies.
It comes as Ukraine continues to gain territory in its summer counteroffensive, which is approaching the two-month mark. Kyiv's fighters "advanced in some areas" on Saturday after carrying out operations in "at least three sectors" of the front line, the Washington D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War think tank said in its latest update.
In an updated statement on Sunday, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said there had been 36 combat clashes over the previous 24 hours, and that Russian forces had attacked Ukrainian targets using Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight. Russia's military lost 480 soldiers, 14 tanks, 11 combat vehicles and nine artillery systems in the past day, the General Staff said.
Discussions on state TV reveal the way Russia sees the world, including Africa (a potential prize with vast mineral resources) and Russia's neighbors like Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (sources of cheap migrant labor). There is also plenty of casual racism.https://t.co/34LWj3yjjk
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) July 30, 2023
In remarks carried by state media, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Ukrainian troops had lost 415 tanks and more than 1,300 armored vehicles since the start of the counteroffensive in early June.
Newsweek cannot independently verify battlefield reports and losses claimed by either Kyiv or Moscow, and has reached out to the Russian and Ukrainian Defense Ministries for comment via email.
In a statement also released on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Moscow was targeted by three Ukrainian drones. One drone was shot down by air defense systems in western Moscow, the ministry said, with two further unmanned aerial vehicles suppressed by electronic weaponry.
These drones "lost control" and crashed into a non-residential building, the Russian government said. The buildings of two office towers were "slightly damaged," Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin said in a statement posted to Telegram. One person was injured, Russian state media reported.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more