Putin: PMC Wagner received tens of billions from the state budget

Private military company Wagner received more than 86 billion rubles from the state budget over the year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with military men who ensured law and order during attempted military coup in Russia.

"From May 2022 to May 2023, the state paid 86 billion 262 million rubles to PMC Wagner in maintenance and incentive payments,” Putin said.

Of these, Putin continued, 70 billion 384 million rubles were spent to support PMC fighters, 15 billion 877 million rubles were used for incentive payments. Another 110 billion 179 million rubles was paid in insurance payments.

PMC Wagner was fully supported by the state in terms of funding, Putin said.

Putin on Ukraine counteroffensive: No chance for success

Speaking about the current state of affairs in the zone of the special operation zone, Putin said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost 259 tanks and 780 armoured vehicles since the start of the counteroffensive.

Over the past seven days, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost 280 pieces of military hardware, including 41 tanks and 102 armoured vehicles in the Orekhovsky direction, which is a key direction of hostilities for Kyiv.

Earlier, Russian Defence minister Sergei Shoigu said that Kyiv had not achieved the goals of the counteroffensive.

Assessing the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the counteroffensive, Putin said that Ukraine had no chance for success.