Ukrainian troops have suffered heavy casualties as they continue their counteroffensive across the front line, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Friday.
Over the past 24 hours, Kiev’s forces have lost hundreds of military personnel and multiple Western-supplied armor pieces, including German-made Leopard 2 tanks and French-made AMX-10 wheeled fighting vehicles, the military said in its daily briefing.
Intense combat continued near the village of Rabotino in Zaporozhye Region, where a major battle had occurred the previous day, the military noted. The Ukrainian forces lost up to 180 servicemen and three Leopard 2 tanks, failing to dislodge the Russian forces from their positions, they added.
The Kiev forces also lost two AMX-10s in the Rabotino area. Separately, unverified footage online showed a damaged truck of the same type captured in the Russian city of Mariupol. No official information about the trophy was immediately available.
Active combat also continued in Russia’s Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, the military said. A major Ukrainian attack was repelled near the village of Staromayorskoye in the Donetsk Republic, with Kiev’s forces losing up to 110 servicemen, several armored and soft vehicles, as well as at least three howitzers.
In the Lugansk People’s Republic, Russian forces continued their offensive effort near the town of Krasny Liman, advancing between 1.5km and 3km deep into Ukrainian positions at various locations. A total of 90 Ukrainian servicemen, two infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled and towed howitzers, as well as other hardware were destroyed in the area, according to the Russian military.
The Ukrainian military launched its long-heralded counteroffensive in early June, but have so far failed to achieve any tangible results, instead sustaining heavy casualties in personnel and Western-supplied equipment. In recent days, the fighting has seemingly intensified along the front line, with Kiev’s forces launching multiple major attacks on Russian positions and using heavy equipment en masse.