Vladimir Putin claims Russia's weapons are 'decades ahead' of Western counterparts
Kate Buck · Breaking News Editor, Yahoo News UK
Vladimir Putin has boasted of Russia's "high-precision weapons", saying Moscow is ready to sell them to global allies as the war in Ukraine stretches into its sixth month.
The Russian president spoke at an arms show just outside of Moscow, using the appearance to insist Moscow's weaponry is ahead of their enemies.
Putin said Russia is "is ready to offer partners and allies the most modern types of weapons - from small arms to armoured vehicles and artillery, combat aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles".
Putin added Russia could offer new models and systems, saying: "We are talking about high-precision weapons and robotics, about combat systems based on new physical principles.
"Many of them are years, or maybe decades ahead of their foreign counterparts, and in terms of tactical and technical characteristics they are significantly superior to them."
Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, and despite Western intelligence suggesting he expected a swift victory, his army has been pushed back from Ukraine's largest cities.
Instead they have been forced to concentrate their forces on the eastern Donbas region, where cities have been reduced to rubble and slow progress has been made in taking control of the region.
Ukrainian authorities have claimed almost 44,000 Russian soldiers have so far been killed in the offensive.
Western military analysts say the poor performance of Russian troops and weaponry could make its arms exports less attractive to potential buyers, such as India, which have heavily relied on its technology in the past.
Despite this, Putin has insisted Russia's army and its supporters in the east of Ukraine were fulfilling their objectives.
"Step by step they are liberating the land of Donbas," he said.
Ukraine has made effective use of US-supplied weaponry, in particular the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) advanced rocket systems.
The systems are mounted on trucks, and carry a container with six precision-guided rockets - each of which can travel about 70 kilometres.
This allows Ukraine to strike Russian targets from further away, meaning less casualties for the Ukrainians.
Earlier this month the US announced a new $1 billion package of military aid and weapons would be sent to Ukraine.
Among the items sent will be 1,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles, mortars, artillery ammunition, HIMARS.
In recent weeks Russia has taken a series of major blows, including devastation of an airbase in the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula last week.
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