Ukraine has lost up to 310 soldiers in the Donetsk region over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
The assault detachments of Russian troops carried out successful offensive operations and improved their position along the front line in the Donetsk direction. In total, they repelled four attacked by Ukraine in the Donetsk direction, one in the Krasny Liman region, six in the Kupyansk direction and one in the Zaporozhye direction.
"Enemy losses in this [Donetsk] direction per day amounted to 310 Ukrainian military, a tank, three armored combat vehicles, nine vehicles, and a D-20 howitzer," the ministry said in a statement.
Kiev also lost up to 125 military in the Kupyansk direction and up to 195 military in the Zaporozhye direction, the ministry said.
"In the South Donetsk direction, the professional actions of the units of the Vostok group of troops, air strikes and artillery fire inflicted a complex fire defeat on the enemy in the areas of... the Donetsk People's Republic [DPR]. Enemy losses amounted to more than 175 Ukrainian military, two tanks, three armored combat vehicles, two vehicles, a D-20 howitzer, and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mounts," the statement read.
Additionally, Russian troops have hit two command posts of unmanned aerial vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces — one in the DPR and one in the Zaporozhye region, the ministry said.
Russian Air Defenses Down Ukrainian Strike Drone Over Belgorod Region - MoD
Russian air defense systems have snuffed out a Ukrainian strike drone over the Belgorod Region at about 9 a.m. Moscow time (06:00 GMT) on Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"Today, at about 9:00 Moscow time, an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack by an aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicle on objects in Russia was thwarted. By means of air defense, a Ukrainian strike UAV was detected and destroyed over the territory of the Belgorod region," the ministry said in a statement, adding that there were no casualties or damage.
According to the Defense Ministry, there were no casualties or damage as a result of the foiled attack.
Ukraine launched its much-touted counteroffensive in early June after multiple postponements. Citing the counteroffensive's needs, Kiev pushed its Western donors to step up the military and financial aid.
Ukraine scrambling to avoid Russian strikes on airbases – FT
Russia has ramped up attacks on airbases used by Kiev to launch long-range missile attacks, forcing Ukrainian personnel and aircraft to constantly be on the move to avoid being struck, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing sources.
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Ukrainian officials told the paper that Kiev and its backers believe that Moscow’s recent attacks on airbases and pilot training facilities in western Ukraine are aimed at decimating its fleet of bombers used to fire British Storm Shadow and French Scalp missiles.
Ukraine is “racing to move around crucial weaponry and its skilled personnel” across dozens of airbases and commercial airports, the report said.
Ukraine’s Air Force Command spokesman, Yury Ignat, acknowledged the issue, claiming to the FT that Moscow was trying to undermine the country’s air power because “our pilots are bothering them… (and) causing a lot of trouble.”
Meanwhile, Yury Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, called on the West to provide Kiev with more air defense systems as well as to speed up pilot training and deliveries of F-16 fighter jets. Ukrainian officials have been asking for US-made advanced jets for months, but do not expect them to arrive until 2024.
In May, the UK supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles with a range of about 250km. France followed suit by sending Scalp missiles capable of reaching targets at the same distance. After receiving the deliveries, Kiev used Storm Shadow missiles to attack civilian facilities and infrastructure in the Russian city of Lugansk and on the Crimean Peninsula.
Reports of intensified attacks on Ukrainian facilities storing long-range assets come after the Russian Defense Ministry said last week that it had conducted high-precision strikes on a military airbase in Ivano-Frankovsk Region in the western part of Ukraine, successfully hitting all the designated targets.
Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against supplying Ukraine with weapons, arguing that this will only prolong the conflict. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has cautioned that the Russian military would take adequate countermeasures.
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