Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Thursday (06 August 2023) that his troops had repelled an offensive in the Zaporizhia region in southern Ukraine.
“The enemy tried to break through our defenses with (…) up to 1,500 men and 150 armored vehicles,” he said in a statement. “It has been blocked and is coming back with heavy losses,” he said.
According to the minister, after a two-hour battle, Ukrainian forces lost 30 tanks, 11 infantry fighting vehicles and up to 350 men.
However, according to the AFP news agency, this information could not be verified with an independent source. At this time, the Ukrainian authorities have not officially reported these attacks.
Kyiv has claimed for months it was preparing a major counteroffensive against Russian forces to retake Moscow-held Ukrainian territories, including the Crimea peninsula illegally annexed in 2014.
According to observers, the intensification of Ukraine’s “offensive operations” at the front in recent weeks are the first signs of this operation.
afp/Portal/rr