The Russians have tried several times to conduct pontoon crossings across the Siversky Donets – all of which destroyed the forces
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A press release from the General Staff said Russians were trying to get their military personnel and armored vehicles across the Siversky Donets River via a pontoon bridge.
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“Crossing the river by Russians is an impossible mission, thanks to the soldiers of the 30th Mechanized Brigade of Ukraine and soldiers of other army units,” the General Staff said.
“Our units bombarded the Russians with shells.”
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The Ukrainian shelling resulted in heavy casualties for the Russians, amounting to at least one tactical battalion group, the general staff said.
The Ukrainian army has already destroyed several pontoon bridges that the invading Russian forces were trying to build in order to be able to cross the Siversky Donets river in force.
On May 16, the New York Times newspaper reported that the Russian army lost 80 units of military equipment trying to cross Siversky Donets. In addition, 480 Russian soldiers died in this attempt.
Despite this, Russia continues to pursue its plans to occupy the entire territory of the Luhansk region. Since 2014, part of it has been controlled by the Russian Federation through a pseudo-state – the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic”.