The Ukrainian military says it has no information about a major counter-offensive south of Donetsk announced by the Russian Defense Ministry.
"We have no such information and will not comment on fake news of any kind," a spokesman for the Ukrainian army's General Staff said today, when asked to comment on Moscow's announcement. intercepted a major Kiev counterattack on the South Donetsk front, killing hundreds of enemy soldiers.
"The war will continue until we have a complete victory," said Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council. His remarks were made in response to a question whether this was the start of Ukraine's long-awaited counter-offensive campaign to retake some territory controlled by Russia after more than a year of fighting.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that "Russian data on the fighting situation should not be trusted".
A suspected Ukrainian armored vehicle is destroyed in a video released by Russia today. Video: Zvezda
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Ukraine mobilized six battalions of motorized infantry and two battalions of tanks in a counterattack in five areas of the South Donetsk front on June 6, but suffered significant losses. in the Neskuchnoye and Novodarovka regions of the Zaporizhzhia province.
“The enemy's goal is to break through the line in the most vulnerable area from their point of view. The enemy was unable to complete the mission, unable to succeed. They lost about 300 soldiers, 16 tanks, 26 infantry fighting vehicles and 14 motor vehicles," the statement said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov was present at the forward command bunker in the fighting area, and released a video showing many motorized vehicles believed to be from the Ukrainian army being destroyed. attack, explode and burn violently.
Russian-Ukrainian war front. Graphics: WP
In a previously published interview, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to act, but made no mention of the attack in his usual video address on the evening of June 4.
Ukraine and the West have repeatedly mentioned a major counter-offensive campaign in the hope of recapturing many of the regions that Russia controls. Ukraine's military in recent weeks has repeatedly sought to probe and weaken the enemy's defenses, but also tried to lower expectations due to fears that what happened may not be as expected.
Vu Anh (Follow Zvezda, Reuters)
