Mr. Shoigu: Ukraine lost nearly 21,000 soldiers in the past month

The Russian Defense Minister said that Ukraine lost nearly 21,000 soldiers and more than 2,200 pieces of equipment in the second month of its counteroffensive but made no significant progress.

"Over the past month, Russian combat operations have resulted in the Ukrainian army losing 20,824 personnel and 2,227 pieces of equipment, including 10 Leopard tanks, 11 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and 50 self-propelled artillery systems," Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said during a meeting with military leaders on July 31.

General Shoigu asserted that the Ukrainian armed forces suffered heavy losses but made no concrete progress on the battlefield, adding that Western weapons supplied to Kyiv did not bring success but only prolonged the conflict.

Shoigu: Ukraine has lost nearly 21,000 soldiers in the past month. — A Ukrainian armored column was destroyed after a failed breakthrough attempt in the Orekhov direction, as shown in a video released on July 31. Video: *Telegram/RVvoenkor*

"The enemy launched a large-scale offensive to break through the defensive lines in the Orekhov direction but failed. I want to thank the servicemen; it was an unprecedentedly large offensive," he said, emphasizing that Russia had just gained control of more areas in the Lyman and Kupyansk directions in the Kharkiv province.

Minister Shoigu argued that the failure of the counter-offensive campaign prompted Ukraine to carry out "terrorist attacks" targeting civilian infrastructure in Russia, asserting that the Russian military is strengthening its defenses to counter this situation.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on the figures given by Shoigu. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on the same day that the country had gained an additional 15 square kilometers of territory in the east and south, bringing the area recaptured after more than two months of counterattacks to approximately 204 square kilometers.

Ukraine launched its long-awaited counteroffensive in early June, deploying several NATO-trained brigades with Western weapons. Kyiv has repeatedly claimed "partial success" in the counteroffensive, but has lost many soldiers, tanks, and modern armored vehicles in its attempt to break through Moscow's defenses.

The Russia-Ukraine war situation. Graphics: WP

Ukrainian officials explained that their army was "deliberately advancing slowly" to limit casualties in the face of dense Russian minefields. US officials said on July 26 that Ukrainian troops were launching a major offensive in the Zaporizhzhia direction, after seeing an opportunity to retake more territory there.

On July 11, Minister Shoigu stated that the Ukrainian army lost more than 26,000 soldiers and 3,000 pieces of equipment in the first month of the counteroffensive. Russian President Vladimir Putin commented that the West had shown "clear disappointment" that Ukraine's counteroffensive had not yielded results.

Vu Anh (According to RIA Novosti, Reuters )

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