Russian defence ministry says 250 Ukrainian troops killed in attack, in claims that could not be independently verified
Russia has claimed to have repelled a “major offensive” in the Donetsk region and to have killed hundreds of Ukrainian troops, but the claims could not be independently verified.
Ukrainian officials made no comment, and have emphasised the need for secrecy about operations in recent days as anticipation grows for a major counteroffensive. Ukrainian military officers have predicted that any such counteroffensive would be preceded and accompanied by feints and diversionary attacks to “shape the battlefield” and cause as much confusion as possible in Russian ranks.
The defence ministry in Moscow said Ukraine had attacked with six mechanised and two tank battalions.
“On the morning of June 4, the enemy launched a large-scale offensive in five sectors of the front in the South Donetsk direction,” the ministry said in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app at 1.30am Moscow time.
“The enemy’s goal was to break through our defences in the most vulnerable, in its opinion, sector of the front,” it said. “The enemy did not achieve its tasks, it had no success.”
The ministry claimed 250 Ukrainian troops had been killed, and 16 tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armoured personnel carriers destroyed.
Videos of combat posted online showed what were purported to be Ukrainian armoured cars blowing up in fields near Velyka Novosilka, 60 miles west of Donetsk city, but it was impossible to tell from the videos when they were taken and what the outcome of the battle was.
The daily update from the Ukrainian general staff on Sunday made no mention of a major offensive in Donetsk but did report 29 clashes in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and 15 airstrikes on enemy troops across the country.
The Institute for the Study of War in Washington, which monitors signs of troop movements, said: “Ukrainian forces conducted local ground attacks and reportedly made limited tactical gains in western Donetsk oblast and eastern Zaporizhzhia oblast.”
Alexander Khodakovsky, the head of the pro-Moscow Vostok Battalion in the Donbas, said there had been Ukrainian military gains in the Velykonovosilkivskyi area of western Donetsk.
“The enemy is trying to break through. Having grouped their forces into a fist, they were able to achieve tactical success,” Khodakovsky said on Telegram. “They took one position from us, but suffered tangible losses. Now the enemy are reinforcing their presence at the point of breakthrough, obviously trying to make further gains.”
Khodakovsky estimated the attacks did not represent the promised counteroffensive, but if Ukraine did achieve a breakthrough, many more troops could pour into the breach.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, posted a message on Twitter on Sunday, quoting from the Depeche Mode song Enjoy the Silence. “Words are very unnecessary They can only do harm,” the tweet said.
Also on Sunday, Ukraine’s armed forces published a video on social media of soldiers facing the camera and putting their finger to their lips, underlining the need for secrecy. In an interview published the same day in the Wall Street Journal, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said preparations for the counteroffensive had been completed.
“We strongly believe that we will succeed,” he said, but admitted he did not know how long it would take. “To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready,” he said.
Ukraine made striking gains in liberating occupied territory late last year, but Russian forces have had several months since to prepare defensive positions, and there is widespread apprehension among Ukrainian forces over the human cost of a counteroffensive, but also awareness that the cost could grow the longer Kyiv waits.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine did not have all the western weapons it had wanted to start the counteroffensive but could no longer wait. He warned that “a large number of soldiers will die”.
Ukraine has readied 12 brigades, an estimated 60,000 troops, to spearhead an attack it hopes will show it can force the Russian invaders, who total about 300,000, from its territory, some of which has been occupied since 2014.
Source: The Guardian
Recent Comments