No comment from Kyiv
Moscow: Ukraine failed with large-scale attack
06/05/2023 03:11 am
The Defense Ministry in Moscow reports an overwhelming victory after a Ukrainian attack in southern Donetsk overnight. Hundreds of soldiers were killed and 16 tanks destroyed. There is no confirmation of this from Kiev.
Russian forces have foiled a major Ukrainian offensive in southern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, killing hundreds of Ukrainian forces, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. “On the morning of June 4, the enemy launched a large-scale offensive in five sectors of the front towards southern Donetsk,” the ministry said on the Telegram news service. “The enemy’s aim was to break through our defenses on the part of the front line that they considered to be the most vulnerable,” Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, according to the state news agency TASS. “The enemy did not achieve their goals, they did not succeed.”
Around 250 Ukrainian soldiers were killed. The Ukrainian infantry vehicles as well as 16 tanks and 21 armored fighting vehicles were said to have been destroyed. The ministry released a video that it claims shows several Ukrainian armored vehicles exploding in a field after being shelled.
Initially, there was no comment from the government in Kiev. According to Russian reports, Ukrainian drone attacks took place again during the day on the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia. Five drones were shot down and four others were distracted and missed their target in Dzhankoy, a Russian official said. Another drone was later intercepted over Sudzha, the governor of the Kursk region bordering Ukraine said on Telegram. Russia maintains an air force base near Dzhankoy.
Ukraine has repeatedly attempted to weaken Russian bases and supply centers in recent weeks. At the end of May, Ukraine declared that the first operations to destroy Russian military infrastructure were already underway.
Power plant in Belgorod burns
According to the governor, a power plant caught fire in the Belgorod region of Russia. “The preliminary cause of the fire was an explosive device dropped from a drone,” writes Vyacheslav Gladkov on Telegram. There are no injuries. The region borders Ukraine and has come under frequent fire in recent weeks. Ukraine denies responsibility for what happened in the border region, blaming guerrilla groups in Russia.
It was unclear whether the attacks were the start of a long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive. The reports could not be independently verified. On Sunday, Kyiv called for “calm” ahead of the announced military operation to recapture Russian-held territories. In an interview published the day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kiev was ready to act. In his evening video address on Sunday evening, Zelensky did not mention the attack.