Russia says it has repulsed Ukraine’s “large-scale offensive” in Donetsk

a Russia On Monday, it said it had repelled a “large-scale attack” by Ukraine on the Donetsk region on Sunday, in which 250 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and dozens of Ukrainian combat vehicles were destroyed.

So far, Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed any attack in Donetsk, one of four regions in eastern Ukraine that Russia illegally annexed last fall.

“On the morning of June 4, the enemy launched a large-scale offensive on five sectors of the front in the Yuzhnodontsky direction,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. “The enemy did not achieve its goal and did not succeed,” he added.

In the same note, the ministry indicated that the Ukrainian army led this attack with six mechanized battalions and two tank battalions.

ministry spokesperson, Igor KonashenkovHe said that 250 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 16 tanks, three combat vehicles and 21 Ukrainian armor were destroyed.

A video posted by the ministry on the Telegram platform shows alleged Ukrainian armored vehicles, filmed from the air, being destroyed by Russian forces.

In a rare indication of the presence of Russia’s top military leaders in field operations, Konashenkov, Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Valery Gerasimov, said:I was in one of the forward command posts“.

The reference comes after criticism from the head of Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that senior military leaders were not seen on the front lines or assumed control or responsibility for military operations in Ukraine.

For months, Kiev has been claiming that it is preparing for a major offensive against Moscow’s occupation forces, in an attempt to regain territory it has lost since the Russian invasion, which began in February 2022.

And in a video posted on Sunday, Ukrainian military leaders said there would be no public announcement of the start of the offensive.