Ukraine has lost more than 400 military both killed and injured in the Donetsk and South Donetsk directions over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry stated on Friday.
Over the given period, the Russian armed forces repelled three attacks by Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk direction, one in the South Donetsk direction, seven attacks and counterattacks in the Kupyansk direction, two in the Krasny Liman direction, and two more in the Zaporozhye direction.
"Enemy losses (in the Donetsk direction) amounted to up to 220 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, a tank, three armored combat vehicles, five vehicles, a US-made M777 artillery system, a D-20 howitzer and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mounts," the ministry noted, adding that up to 210 troops were destroyed in the South Donetsk direction.
Moreover, Kiev lost up to 195 soldiers in the Zaporozhye direction, the ministry mentioned.
Russian Foreign Ministry Appeals to Ukrainian Troops: Resist Kiev Regime or Surrender
©Sputnik/Valery Melnikov/Go to the mediabank
Maria Zakharova, the official spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, has advised soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to either turn their weapons against the Kiev regime or surrender. The diplomat's comment was published on the ministry's official website.
"We strongly recommend Ukrainian servicemen who are convinced of the criminal nature of the bandit junta that has seized their country to either turn their weapons against it or surrender to our forces," the official noted.
Zakharova also emphasized that in such cases, the humane and dignified treatment of Ukrainian military personnel will be ensured.
She also stressed that the criminal Kiev regime continues to shell Russian cities and villages with NATO weapons, including with banned cluster munitions. These actions result in civilian casualties, including children.
In early July, the US government announced it would send hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs to Ukraine to aid its struggling counteroffensive. The munitions, fired from howitzers, are intended to bolster Ukrainian forces. The move came after significant losses, including more than 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers and more than 4,900 military vehicles.
The US pre-positioned these weapons prior to the announcement, and their use began shortly thereafter. These cluster bombs, similar to depleted uranium shells in Ukraine's tanks, pose the risk of widespread unexploded bomblets, leaving areas dangerous for years. The US and its allies have provided nearly $100 billion in support since February 2022 as Ukrainian forces face Russian superiority, raising concerns about waning Western interest in the ongoing conflict.
CNN - Washington believes Ukraine’s attacks on Crimea are pointless
Ukraine should abandon its targeting of Crimea and focus on breaking through Russian lines instead, US military officials told CNN on Friday. Kiev has stepped up its attacks on the Russian peninsula in recent weeks, with Moscow claiming that the strikes are an attempt to distract from failures on the battlefield.
Since last month, Ukraine has hit the Crimean Bridge – which links the peninsula to the Russian mainland – with naval drones, aerial drones, and long-range missiles. In the last week alone, Russian air defenses thwarted an attempted missile strike on the bridge, and downed 20 drones bound for unspecified targets further inland on the peninsula.
This strategy of deep strikes has “knocked the Russians off balance a bit, but it is not doing anything decisive,” an anonymous “senior defense official” told CNN. “And it would probably be better for everyone for them to just focus on the counteroffensive.”
Ukraine launched its long-anticipated counterattack against Russian forces in early June, aiming to push south through the Zaporozhye region and reach the city of Melitopol near the Sea of Azov, which would split the Russian front and cut off Russia’s land access to Crimea.
However, the operation has cost Kiev more than 43,000 troops and nearly 5,000 pieces of heavy equipment thus far, according to the latest figures from the Russian Defense Ministry. Ukrainian forces have failed to penetrate even the first line of Russia’s multi-layered network of defenses in some areas, leading Western officials to privately pronounce the offensive a failure, according to recent media reports.
Amid the stalled effort, Kiev’s attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure are “acts of desperation” aimed at drawing attention away from its military failures, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated.
Officials in Washington see things similarly, according to CNN’s report. “The reality is this offensive does not have some eternal runway to go on through the fall,” a Pentagon source told the network. “I’m not too optimistic that we’ll be at the Sea of Azov by Christmas,” another military official said.
While the report paints a grim picture for Ukraine, officials in Kiev insist that they will achieve their objectives, with Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba stating this week that he “doesn’t care” how long it takes. In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin has characterized the Ukrainian offensive as “suicidal,” and accused Ukraine’s Western backers of pushing Kiev to “wage the war to the last Ukrainian.”
Ukraine’s counteroffensive has failed – US congressman
©Getty Images / Tasos Katopodis
Ukraine is now in a stalemate in its conflict with Russia and it is unclear if it can win, one of Kiev’s top backers in the US Congress, Representative Andy Harris (R-Maryland), has admitted.
Harris recently told a town hall meeting of his constituents that it is time to wind down direct US aid to Ukraine because Kiev’s springtime offensive, which was supposed to turn the tide of the conflict, has failed to realise its goals, Politico reported on Thursday.
“I’ll be blunt, it’s failed,” said Harris, who has been one the staunchest supporters of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and has repeatedly supported military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Kiev. “I’m not sure it’s winnable anymore,” he added.
Asked whether he would support another tranche of aid to Ukraine, Harris insisted that there are a number of concerns about providing more money to Kiev, one of which is the prospect of fraud or waste. “If there is humanitarian monies, nonmilitary monies, or military monies without an inspector general, I’m not supporting it.”
The congressman added that the US has its own issues to deal with, including the trillion-dollar US deficit in the post-Covid years.
“I’m sorry, we don’t have that kind of money,” Harris said of US President Joe Biden’s proposal to provide an additional $24 billion in emergency funds to Ukraine.
Instead of fueling the conflict further by providing Kiev with additional aid, Harris is now calling for peace negotiations.
“I think the time has come to realistically call for peace talks. I know President Zelensky doesn’t want it,” Harris said. “But President Zelensky, without our help, he would abjectly lose the war. And with our help, he’s not winning. It’s a stalemate now.”
Harris is the son of immigrants from Eastern Europe. His Hungarian-born father, Zoltan, married Irene Koczerzuk, a Polish refugee from present-day Ukraine, before immigrating to the US in 1950.
Ukraine has refused to enter into talks with Russia. Zelensky has formally outlawed any negotiations with the Kremlin as long as Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in power, and has insisted that Kiev will discuss peace only after Russian forces withdraw from the territories it claims as its own.
Moscow has said that it is open to peace talks as long as Kiev respects its national security interests and the status of the former Ukrainian regions that officially joined Russia following referendums.
Russian officials have argued that Kiev’s Western backers are pushing it to prolong the conflict and have thwarted attempts at finding a peaceful resolution. In June, Putin revealed that Moscow and Kiev had reached a preliminary agreement in the early months of the conflict in 2022, only for the Ukrainian side to “throw it all away, into the garbage dump of history.”
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