Russia's defense minister said Ukraine lost nearly 21,000 soldiers and more than 2,200 pieces of equipment in the second month of counter-offensive but failed to make significant progress.
"Over the past month, Russian military operations have caused the Ukrainian army to lose 20,824 people and 2,227 pieces of equipment, including 10 Leopard tanks, 11 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and 50 self-propelled artillery systems," Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting with military leaders on July 31.
General Shoigu asserted that the Ukrainian armed forces suffered huge losses but did not make any concrete progress on the battlefield, adding that Western weapons aid to Kiev did not bring success but only prolonged the conflict.
"The enemy launched a large-scale attack to break through the defense line in the Orekhov direction but failed. I want to thank the servicemen, it was an unprecedented large-scale attack," he said, emphasizing that Russia had just taken control of more areas in the Lyman and Kupyansk directions in Kharkov province.
Shoigu said the failure of the counteroffensive prompted Ukraine to carry out "terrorist attacks" on civilian infrastructure in Russia, and that the Russian military was stepping up defense measures to counter the situation.
Ukrainian officials have not commented on Mr. Shoigu’s figure. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on the same day that the country had gained another 15 square kilometers of territory in the east and south, bringing the area it had regained control of after more than two months of counter-offensive to about 204 square kilometers.
Ukraine launched its long-awaited counter-offensive in early June, launching several NATO-trained brigades armed with Western weapons. Kiev has repeatedly claimed “partial success” in its counter-offensive, but has lost many soldiers, tanks and advanced armor in its efforts to break through Moscow’s defenses.
The situation of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Graphics: WP
Ukrainian officials explained that their troops were "intentionally advancing slowly" to limit casualties when facing a dense Russian minefield. US officials said on July 26 that the Ukrainian army was carrying out its main offensive in the direction of Zaporizhzhia, after seeing an opportunity to regain more territory there.
Defense Minister Shoigu said on July 11 that the Ukrainian army had lost more than 26,000 soldiers and 3,000 pieces of equipment in the first month of the counteroffensive. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the West had shown "clear disappointment" when Ukraine's counteroffensive failed.
Vu Anh (According to RIA Novosti, Reuters )
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