Gerasimov pointed to the growing disappointment of Ukrainians with Kiev's actions in its security zone.

Ukrainian citizens are becoming increasingly disillusioned with Kiev's actions at the front. This was announced on December 18 by Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia Valery Gerasimov during a briefing.

"Ordinary Ukrainians are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the actions of the authorities due to the situation at the front, the increase in the number of irretrievable losses, the degradation of the economy, the increase in tariffs for housing and communal services, and the increasing corruption in government," he said.

According to the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, about 9 million people have left the Ukrainian territory since the beginning of the special military operation. Gerasimov also clarified that the "adventurous plan" of the Ukrainian side in the Kursk direction had failed, as had the calculation of the Kiev regime that Russia would stop the offensive in Donbass.

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The day before, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Ukrainian statehood and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are degrading, as can be seen from the "golden toilets." He added that more than 100,000 criminal cases of desertion have been initiated in Ukraine alone, while the number of deserters is estimated at hundreds of thousands in total.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, also advised Ukrainians to flee the country on November 20. According to her, the mobilization in Ukraine is not carried out to protect their country and not to raise or strengthen its defense capability, but in order to "execute an order to kill Ukrainian citizens."

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.