Ukraine Responds to Russian Offensive with Heavy Casualties, UK Report Reveals

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According to British officials, both Russia and Ukraine are experiencing significant military casualties as Ukraine launches a counteroffensive to remove Kremlin forces from occupied regions. The British military’s regular assessment suggests that Russian losses are currently at their highest since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March.

The fiercest fighting, as reported by British intelligence, is concentrated in the southeastern province of Zaporizhzhia, particularly in the areas around Bakhmut, as well as in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province. While the update acknowledges Ukraine’s offensive actions and minor advancements in these regions, it also acknowledges the effectiveness of Russian forces in conducting defensive operations in the south of Ukraine.

In a recent update, the Ukrainian military stated that within a 24-hour period, Russia had carried out 43 airstrikes, four missile strikes, and 51 attacks using multiple rocket launchers. The General Staff’s statement emphasized that Russia’s offensive efforts primarily target Ukraine’s industrial east, with a focus on Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka, and Lyman in the Donetsk province. The clashes between the two forces numbered at 26 during this timeframe.

The governor of Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, reported two civilian fatalities and three wounded in the past day. Additionally, Ukrainian officials noted that Russian forces conducted airstrikes in other regions of the east and south, resulting in the death of one civilian and four injuries in Kherson province. In Zaporizhzhia province, Governor Yurii Malashko reported one person wounded across 20 settlements hit by Russian attacks.

Vladimir Rogov, an official representing the Moscow-appointed administration in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region, revealed that Ukrainian forces had successfully gained control of the village of Piatykhatky on the Zaporizhzhia battlefront. Furthermore, Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the regional government in Odesa province, announced that Ukrainian forces had destroyed a significant ammunition depot near the Russian-occupied port city of Henichesk in nearby Kherson province.

Despite the Ukrainian counteroffensive, Western analysts and military officials have cautioned that the process of dislodging Kremlin forces from occupied areas using advanced weaponry supplied by Western countries along the 1,000-kilometer front line may be protracted.

In an attempt to aid in resolving the nearly 16-month-long conflict, a group of African leaders undertook a self-proclaimed “peace mission” to Ukraine and Russia. However, their visit concluded on Saturday without immediate signs of progress.

In other news:

• The death toll resulting from flooding caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam has risen to 16 in Ukrainian-held territory, as reported by Ukraine’s interior ministry. Russian officials claim that 29 people died in territories under Moscow’s control. The breach of the dam on June 6 caused massive flooding in towns along the lower Dnieper River in the Kherson region, which is a front line in the war. Both Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of responsibility for the breach.

• With the approaching deadline for all Russian volunteer formations to sign contracts with Russia’s Defense Ministry, aimed primarily at the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Wagner and a regular Kremlin critic, stated on Sunday that 32,000 former prisoners had returned home after completing their contracts with Wagner in Ukraine. Prigozhin claimed that these individuals committed 83 crimes upon their return, which he argued was “80 times less” than the number committed by prisoners released during the same period but without having served with Wagner. Prigozhin had recruited fighters from Russian prisons, offering pardons upon completion of a six-month tour of duty on the front line with Wagner. In a previous interview, he mentioned recruiting 50,000 convicts, with approximately 10,000 of them losing their lives in Bakhmut.

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