- Russia says it destroyed tanks and equipment
- Russia says Ukraine attacked with 8 battalions
- Ukraine remains silent on Russian claims
- Ukraine did not respond to requests for comment
MOSCOW, June 5 (Portal) – Russia said on Monday its forces thwarted a major Ukrainian offensive at five points along the frontline in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, killing hundreds of soldiers, while Ukraine accused Moscow of spreading lies.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the attack marked the start of a Ukrainian counteroffensive that Kiev has been promising for months to rout Russian forces following the February 2022 invasion.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine attacked Sunday morning with six mechanized and two tank battalions in southern Donetsk, where Moscow has long suspected Ukraine was trying to drive a wedge through Russian-controlled areas.
“On the morning of June 4, the enemy launched a large-scale offensive in five sectors of the front towards southern Donetsk,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement published on Telegram at 1:30 a.m. Moscow time (22:30 GMT). .
“The enemy’s goal was to break through our defenses in what they considered to be the most vulnerable section of the front,” it said. “The enemy did not fulfill their tasks, they did not succeed.”
Portal was unable to immediately verify the Russian statement, and Ukraine’s defense ministry and military did not immediately respond to written requests for comment.
The commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Monday that Ukrainian forces continued to “advance” near the long-contested town of Bakhmut in northern Donetsk. He did not comment on the counter-offensive.
The daily report of the Ukrainian general staff only states that there were 29 combat operations in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communications did not directly address the Russian statement but said, without providing any evidence, that Russia was trying to spread lies.
“In order to demoralize Ukrainians and mislead the community (including their own population), Russian propagandists will spread false information about the counteroffensive, its direction and Ukrainian army losses,” it said.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov posted a cryptic message on Twitter on Sunday, citing Depeche Mode’s title “Enjoy the Silence.”
Russian war bloggers reported fighting at several points on the front, most notably around Vuhledar some 150 km (93 miles) southwest of Bakhmut.
BATTLE
The Russian Defense Ministry released a video showing several Ukrainian armored vehicles exploding in a field after being hit.
Russian forces killed 250 Ukrainian soldiers and destroyed 16 tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armored fighting vehicles, the ministry said.
Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, who is in charge of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, was in the area at the time of the Ukrainian attack, the ministry said.
Well-known Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, who blogs as War Gonzo, said Ukrainian forces attacked near Velyka Novosilka, a village west of Vuhledar.
“There is an uphill battle going on.”
Other Russian military bloggers also reported fierce fighting Monday morning near Bakhmut, near Soledar and near Vuhledar. Portal could not independently verify the reports.
COUNTER-OFFENSIVE?
For months, Ukraine has been preparing for a counteroffensive against Russian forces that officials in Kiev and CIA Director William Burns have said will break Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hubris.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Saturday that he was ready to launch the counteroffensive, but downplayed his forecast of success, warning that it could take time and cost heavily.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to be,” he told The Journal. “To be honest, there can be different paths, very different ones. But we will do it and we are ready.”
With tens of billions of dollars worth of Western weapons aimed at fighting Russian forces, the success or failure of the counteroffensive is likely to influence the shape of future Western diplomatic and military support to Ukraine.
Ukraine has tried to weaken Russian positions in recent weeks, but its specific plans have been kept secret as it seeks to deal another blow to Russia’s much larger military.
Moscow was attacked by drones last month in what Russia says was a Ukrainian terrorist attack, while pro-Ukrainian forces have made repeated incursions into Russia in the Belgorod region in recent days.
After a two-month hiatus, Russia has fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukraine, mostly at Kiev, since early May. Ukraine said they attacked military installations but also residential areas.
WAR IN UKRAINE
Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24 last year in what the Kremlin expected to be a swift operation, but his forces suffered a series of defeats and were forced to retreat and regroup in parts of eastern Ukraine.
Russia now controls at least 18% of the territory internationally recognized as Ukrainian territory and has claimed four regions of Ukraine as Russian territory.
For months, tens of thousands of Russian troops have been digging in along a front line stretching some 600 miles (1,000 kilometers), preparing for a Ukrainian attack expected to attempt to sever Russia’s so-called land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia captured in 2014 annexed.
Ukraine has promised to drive every last Russian soldier out of its territory and has described the invasion as an imperial-style land grab by Russia.
Russia claims the West is waging a hybrid war against Russia to sow discord and ultimately divide up Russia’s vast natural resources — claims Western leaders dispute.
Writing by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow, Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Adaptation by Diane Craft, Lincoln Feast and Philippa Fletcher
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Guy Faulconbridge