Russia says it repels heavy Ukrainian attacks in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk

Russia's top military brass briefed President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that their troops had successfully pushed back a series of attacks which Moscow says are part of a so-far unsuccessful counter-offensive by Ukraine since Sunday. "The armed forces of Ukraine continued attempts to conduct offensive operations in the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhzhia directions," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.


Reuters | Kyiv | Updated: 09-06-2023 18:49 IST | Created: 09-06-2023 17:54 IST
Russia says it repels heavy Ukrainian attacks in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk
Representative image Image Credit: ANI
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Russia said on Friday it had repelled fierce Ukrainian offensives in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions, killing more than 1,000 Ukrainian troops and destroying dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles. Russia's top military brass briefed President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that their troops had successfully pushed back a series of attacks which Moscow says are part of a so-far unsuccessful counter-offensive by Ukraine since Sunday.

"The armed forces of Ukraine continued attempts to conduct offensive operations in the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhzhia directions," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement. It said Ukrainian forces had attacked Russian lines four times with two battalions supported with tanks just south of Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk, but were pushed back.

Russian forces had also repelled two attacks just south of city of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region, the ministry said. Russia said Ukraine had lost around 1,200 men, around 40 tanks and several aircraft, including a MiG-29 and a Su-25 in the past 24 hours.

Russia, which on Tuesday said Ukraine had lost 3,715 men in three days, did not give its own casualty figures. Reuters cannot independently verify battlefield accounts or losses from either side.

Ukraine has declined to comment on the long-awaited counter-offensive and has accused Russia of spreading lies about it. The New York Times quoted three senior U.S. officials as saying that the counter-offensive was underway. For months, Ukraine has been preparing for the counter-offensive which officials in Kyiv and Washington hope will smash through the front line and rout Russian forces.

Tens of thousands of Russian troops have for months been digging in along a front line which stretches for around 600 miles (1,000 km), bracing for the attack which is expected to try to cut Russia's so-called land bridge to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. After seeking tens of billions of dollars of Western weapons to fight Russian forces, the success or failure of the counter-offensive is likely to influence the shape of future Western diplomatic and military support for Ukraine.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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