The Russian Ministry of Defense insisted this Monday on the version that its troops repelled all enemy attacks, although the Ukrainian Army has claimed the recapture of five towns since the start of its counteroffensive.
The Russian Ministry guarantees that the forces commanded by Moscow repelled five Ukrainian attacks in the last 24 hours, in the Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions, controlled mostly by Russian troops.
Moscow added that in three of these offensives on the administrative border between the two eastern regions, Ukrainian forces reportedly lost more than 120 soldiers, as well as two tanks and three armored vehicles.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the bloodiest fighting takes place around the Márinka and Avdíivka redoubts, on the outskirts of the regional capital of Donetsk, where the enemy reportedly lost some 140 soldiers.
This Monday, the Ukrainian army announced the liberation of a small town (Novodarivka) in Zaporijia, to which must be added the four towns reconquered in the last four days in Donetsk.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged on Saturday the start of the counteroffensive, which Moscow said began on June 4.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that all Ukrainian offensives had failed, but kyiv still retained its “offensive potential.”
The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine has so far caused the flight of more than 14.7 million people -6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.2 million to European countries-, according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the wider international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing them on Russia in political and economic sanctions.
Source: TSF
