The Kremlin has assured this Monday that its Army has repelled a major offensive at five key points on the front in the southern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Furthermore, he claims to have killed 250 Ukrainian soldiers during defensive operations.
The Russian Ministry of Defense explained that Ukraine had attacked with six mechanized battalions and two tank battalions. south of Donetsk, where Moscow had long suspected Ukraine would seek to drive a wedge into Russian-controlled territory.
“On the morning of June 4, the enemy launched a full-scale offensive on five sectors of the front in the direction south of Donetsk,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on Telegram at 01:30 Moscow time. “The enemy’s goal was break our defenses in the most vulnerable sectorin his opinion, from the front,” he said. “The enemy did not achieve his goal, he was not successful.”
[Al menos un muerto y decenas de heridos tras una nueva noche de bombardeos en Ucrania]
The Russian statement could not be verified at this time. Furthermore, Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications did not refer directly to the Russian statement, but said, without providing evidence, that Russia is trying to spread hoaxes for its psychological effect.
“For demoralize the ukrainians and mislead the community (including their own population), Russian propagandists will spread false information about the counter-offensive, their directions and the losses of the Ukrainian army,” he said.
“Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm”(c) Depeche Mode pic.twitter.com/0Ul78wSv9q
— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) June 4, 2023
The daily report of the Ukrainian General Staff on Monday is limited to saying that there have been 29 clashes in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov posted a cryptic message on Twitter on Sunday, citing the issue “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode. “Words are very unnecessary. They can only hurt,” her tweet read.
Ukraine last week published a striking video showing troops preparing for battle and reciting an enthusiastic blessingwhich later aired as a recruiting clip.
The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, released a video showing several Ukrainian armored vehicles flying through the air after being hit. Russian forces killed 250 Ukrainian soldiers and destroyed 16 tanksthree infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armored fighting vehicles, according to the ministry.
The chief of the Russian General Staff, Valeri Gerasimov, in charge of Moscow’s military operation in Ukrainewas in the area of the Ukrainian attack, according to the ministry.
Some prominent Russian military bloggers, including Semyon Pegov, who writes under the name of War Gonzo, also reported heavy fighting early Monday in Russian-controlled areas. Pegov said that Ukrainian forces are attacking near Velyka Novosilka in the Donetsk region. “A hard fight is going on“.
Other Russian military bloggers also reported heavy fighting on Monday morning near Bakhmut, near Soledar and Vuhledar in the Donetsk region. Reuters was unable to independently verify the reports.
Expected counteroffensive
Ukraine has been preparing for months for a counter-offensive against Russian forces which, according to kyiv officials and CIA Director William Burns, will end the arrogance of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelenskytold the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Saturday that he was prepared to launch counteroffensivebut he qualified his forecast of success with the caveat that it could take some time and have a high cost.
“I don’t know how long it will take“He told the Journal. “To be honest, it can go a number of ways, completely different. But we’re going to do it and we’re ready.”
[Biden envió en misión secreta a China al director de la CIA para rebajar la tensión entre ambos países]
After having requested tens of billions of dollars worth 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.
Ukraine has prepared 12 brigades, about 60,000 troopsto lead an attack that he hopes to show he can drive the Russian invaders, who number some 300,000, from his territory, part of which has been occupied since 2014.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has tried to weaken Russian positions, but its concrete plans have been kept secret in his attempt to deal a new blow to the Russian Army, much more numerous.
Last month, Moscow was attacked with dronesaccording to Russia, by Ukrainian terrorists, while pro-Ukrainian forces have repeatedly crossed the Russian border in recent days in the region of Belgorod.
After a two-month hiatus, Russia has launched hundreds of drones and missiles against Ukraine since the beginning of May, mainly against kyiv, and Ukraine claims that the targets were its military and security installations. critical infrastructure.
