Russian Defense Minister Serhiy Shoigu claims that Russia inflicted huge losses on the Ukrainian troops in the counteroffensive, which it repelled for three days. Meanwhile, Russia’s defense minister said on Tuesday that only 71 Russian soldiers had died in what he called a failed Ukrainian offensive in recent days, Reuters and TASS reported.

“For three days, the Ukrainian regime conducted a long-awaited offensive in various areas of the front, concentrating a large amount of equipment and combat power for this purpose, but the enemy did not succeed and suffered significant losses,” he said.

According to him, on June 4, the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the forces of two brigades launched an offensive in five directions, but were unsuccessful and lost 300 soldiers, 16 tanks, 26 armored personnel carriers, 14 units.

On June 5, the Kyiv regime launched an offensive from seven directions with the forces of five brigades, but it was stopped, and Ukraine reportedly suffered significant losses, the minister noted.

According to him, during the attempted offensive on June 5, Ukrainian losses amounted to more than “1,600 military personnel, 28 tanks, including 8 Leopard tanks and 3 AMX-10 tanks, 136 units of other military equipment, including 79 foreigners.”

According to Shoigu, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the last three days of hostilities in all directions amounted to 3,715 soldiers and 52 tanks.

“In just three days of hostilities in all directions, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine amounted to 3,715 servicemen, 52 tanks, 207 armored combat vehicles, 134 vehicles, 5 airplanes, 2 helicopters, 48 ​​artillery pieces, and 53 UAVs. vehicles,” he said.

Meanwhile, Russia’s defense minister said on Tuesday that only 71 Russian soldiers had been killed in what he called a botched Ukrainian offensive in recent days.

In a statement of the Ministry of Defense published on Telegram, Shoigu is quoted as saying that 15 Russian tanks and 9 units of armored vehicles were destroyed during the hostilities.

“I repeat, the enemy did not achieve his goals, he suffered significant and incomparable losses,” Shoigu said in a statement.

Russia rarely provides data on casualties from the conflict in Ukraine, and its critics accuse it of underestimating the number of soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine.

The Russian army announced on Sunday night that its forces repelled a “large-scale offensive” by the Ukrainian army in Donbas on Sunday morning.

The Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine stated that Russian reports about the start of a counteroffensive against Ukraine are aimed at diverting attention from the losses of the Russian Federation in the Bakhmut area. “What will happen now? We are continuing the defense that began on February 24, 2022. A defensive operation includes everything, including counteroffensive actions. Therefore, in some areas, we go on the offensive. In particular, the Bakhmut direction remains the epicenter of hostilities. There we are heading with a fairly wide front. We are successful. We occupy the dominant heights. The enemy is on the defensive and wants to hold its positions. In the south, the enemy is on the defensive. Fighting of local significance continues,” Hanna Malyar said.