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Kiev forces reported sustained more losses in equipment and manpower on June 15 and 16 while attempting to advance in the Zaporozhye and south Donetsk sectors as a part of their so-called spring counteroffensive.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Ukrainian troops attempted to attack in the south Donetsk and Donetsk sectors more than once in the last 24 hours.
In Vremevka salient, heavy fighting took place in the areas of Rovnopol and Urozhaynoye in Donetsk. Five attacks by Kiev were repelled as a result of courageous actions by the Russian Vostok Group of Forces, air strikes and artillery fire.
More than 200 Ukrainian troops, five tanks, seven infantry fighting vehicles, five armored vehicles, four motor vehicles, and two mortar batteries were neutralized there, according to the ministry.
In Donetsk direction, the Russian Yug Group of Forces successfully repelled five attacks near the areas of Pervomaiskoye, Petrovskoye, and Staromikhailovka in Donetsk. At least 215 Ukrainian troops, three armored fighting vehicles, five motor vehicles and two D-20 howitzers were neutralized during the fighting there.
Moreover, an ammunition depot of the 109th Territorial Defence Brigade located near to the area Novogorodskoye in Donetsk was destroyed.
The situation in other directions, according to the statement of the Russian MoD:
In Kupyansk direction, the ground-attack aircraft, artillery and units of the Zapad Group of Forces have foiled actions of two Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups close to Novosyolovskoye (Lugansk People’s Republic).
Up to 45 Ukrainian servicemen, two armored fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, and a U.S.-made M777 artillery system were destroyed during the day.
In Krasny Liman direction, aviation and artillery of the Tsentr Group of Forces engaged the units of the enemy close to Nevskoye, Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People’s Republic), and the Serebryansky forestry.
During the day, up to 65 Ukrainian servicemen, two armored personnel carriers, one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, and one D-30 howitzer have been neutralized.
In Kherson direction, up to 30 Ukrainian troops, five motor vehicles, one Msta-B howitzer, and one U.S.-made M777 artillery system have been neutralized over the past 24 hours.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged 96 AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] artillery units at their fire positions, manpower, and military hardware in 104 areas during the day.
Russian air defenses forces have intercepted four HIMARS shells during the day.
In addition, 22 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were obliterated in the areas of Sladkaya Balka, Tokmak (Zaporozhye region), Volnovakha, Artyomovsk, Verkhnetortskoye (Donetsk People’s Republic), Svatovo (Lugansk People’s Republic), and Novaya Kakhovka (Kherson region).
In total, 444 airplanes and 238 helicopters, 4,652 unmanned aerial vehicles, 426 air defense missile systems, 10,018 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,124 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 5,128 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 10,983 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.
In a separate statement, the Russian Zapad Group of Forces provided details on some of its recent operations against Kiev forces.
In the Kupyansk direction, Ka-52, Mi-28 attack helicopters and Su-25 ground-attack aircraft of the Zapad Group of Forces carried out eleven strikes against gatherings of manpower, weapons, military and special hardware from the Ukrainian 14th Separate Mechanised Brigade and the 103rd Territorial Defence Brigade.
The Group’s artillery also disrupted three attempts by Kiev forces to rotate units at forward positions from the 14th Separate Mechanised Brigade, 103rd Territorial Defence Brigade, and 28th Separate Rifle Battalion near Sinkovka, Novomlynsk, and Kolomiychikha.
Near Peschanoye area, the group’s artillery units destroyed a U.S.-made M109 Palladin howitzer. In addition, a Polish-made Krab howitzer was targeted near the area of Petropavlovka.
The group’s air defenses in Zhovtnevoye and Novozhdanovka shot down two Puma and Valkyrie drones with Tor short-range systems.
Meanwhile, the Russian MoD released videos showing attack helicopters targeted armored vehicles of Kiev forces as well as an attack with FPV drones on a fortified position. Another video that surfaced online showed a number of destroyed Ukrainian main battle tanks and engineering vehicles.
In a related development, Ukraine reported a series of strikes against Kiev on June 16 as five African leaders including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Azali Assoumani, African Union chairperson and President of the Union of Comoros, arrived in the city on a peace mission.
Ukraine claimed that its air defenses intercepted six Khinzal hypersonic missiles, six Kalibr cruise missiles and two unidentified drones. As usual, no evidence was presented to back these claims.
Interestingly, a member of the African peace delegation denied hearing any explosions at Kiev, according to the News24 outlet.
“It is very strange that we did not hear or see the explosion. Clearly, deliberate misinformation is being circulated here. We were perplexed when we were brought back to the hotel, and we walked through the streets where people normally continued the day,” the representative of the President of South Africa was quoted by the news outlet as saying.
Since launching its counteroffensive on June 4, Ukraine has sustained heavy material and human losses and failed to make any real gains on the ground.
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