Ukraine's armed forces have suffered significant losses, destroying a significant part of the weapons and equipment available to Kyiv at the beginning of the Russian special operation, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at an expanded meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry board, RIA Novosti reported.

According to him, to make up for the losses, the United States and NATO countries have multiplied military aid to the Kyiv regime.

"Twenty-seven countries have already spent $97 billion on arms supplies to Ukraine, which is a lot more than what the Americans threw in Afghanistan. Some of it is in the hands of terrorists and is spreading around the world. There is no telling in whose hands tomorrow weapons from Ukraine will end up," Shoigu said.

He noted that the reason for the conflict in Ukraine is the Western-financed coup d'etat in Kiev in 2014, which brought anti-Russian forces to power. "After the revelations of Mrs. Merkel, Poroshenko and other politicians about the true goals of the Minsk agreements, it became obvious to everyone that Russia was not the source of the conflict in Ukraine. The reason was the Western-funded coup d'etat in Kiev in 2014, which brought anti-Russian forces to power and divided the brotherly peoples. It provoked an armed confrontation in Donbass," he said.