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Agencies

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has put Ukrainian losses since the beginning of Kyiv’s counteroffensive at more than 66,000 soldiers.
Ukraine has also lost around 7,600 weapons systems in its efforts to recapture its territory from Russia, Shoigu said at a ministry video conference on Tuesday.
“In none of the [attack] directions have Ukraine’s armed forces achieved their goal,” he claimed.
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv gives timely data on military losses, and each is at pains to amplify the other side’s casualties.

According to an assessment by the US Defence Intelligence Agency leaked online in April, Russia had 35,500-43,000 troops killed in action during the conflict, compared to roughly 15,500-17,500 for Ukraine. Russia says US estimates of its losses are far too high – and propaganda.
The Zaporizhzhia region of southeast Ukraine has become the most recent hotspot for battles in the 18-month war, Shoigu said.
First UK-supplied Challenger 2 tank destroyed in Ukraine
Shoigu told Russian military officers that Ukraine has brought up reserve brigades there that were trained by Kyiv’s Western allies. He offered no evidence for his claim, which could not be independently verified.
Fighting in the southeast could be one of the keys to the war. If Russian defences there collapse, Ukrainian forces could push southward toward the coast and potentially split Russian forces into two.
Shoigu’s assertion was corroborated in part by other reports and assessments of Ukraine’s three-month-old effort to drive out the Kremlin’s troops.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank, citing geolocated footage, said on Tuesday that Ukrainian light infantry has advanced beyond some of the anti-tank ditches and dense minefields that make up Russia’s layered defences in Zaporizhzhia.
However, it said it was unable to state that the defence was fully breached, because no Ukrainian heavy armour has been witnessed in the area.
It is in the south that the Ukrainian brigades have made most recent battlefield gains as the counteroffensive inches forward under heavy fire.

Since the grinding counteroffensive began about three months ago, Ukraine has advanced 7km (4.3 miles) in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian officials claim.
Troops surmounted dense Russian fortifications last week to retake the village of Robotyne. That was Ukraine’s first tactically significant victory in that part of the country.
Ukrainian forces have made more progress in that area and were fortifying captured positions on Tuesday morning, according to Pavlo Kovalchuk, spokesman of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Russian pilot reveals details of daring defection to Ukraine in helicopter
Neither side’s battlefield claims could be verified.
If Ukrainians progress just 15km (9 miles) from Robotyne, they could come within firing range of Russia’s east-west transport routes and potentially weaken Moscow’s combat capabilities, military observers say.
Ukrainian forces are advancing without air cover, making their progress harder and slower, while Russia has launched its own push in the northeast to pin down Ukrainian forces and prevent them being redeployed to the south.

Ukraine has adapted its counteroffensive tactics in recent weeks, moving from attempts to bludgeon its way through Russian lines using Western-supplied armour to better-planned tactical attacks that make incremental gains, according to the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank.
“However, this approach is slow, with approximately 700–1,200 metres of progress every five days, allowing Russian forces to reset,” it said in an assessment Monday.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has also been shaking up Ukraine’s wartime leadership to breathe fresh life into his counteroffensive.
The Ukrainian parliament formally dismissed Oleksii Reznikov as defence minister on Tuesday, after Zelensky announced over the weekend he wanted him replaced.
As expected, a large majority of lawmakers voted in favour of Reznikov’s ousting. He had held the post since November 2021.
His designated successor is the current head of the State Property Fund, Rustem Umerov.
dpa, Reuters and Associated Press


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Ukraine war

Russia’s defence chief Sergei Shoigu says 66,000 Ukrainians killed in counteroffensive

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, seen on the screen, during a high level military meeting in Moscow. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry via AP

A Ukrainian serviceman and a destroyed Ukrainian tank near the village of Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia region. Photo: Reuters

Ukrainian forces raise a flag in the settlement of Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia region. Photo: Telegram Valerii Zaluzhnyi via Reuters

A Ukrainian unit breaching mine defences near Hulyaipole, in the Zaporizhzhia region. Photo: Reuters

UK-supplied Challenger 2 tank destroyed in Ukraine, a first from Russian fire

Challenger 2s are considered one of the world’s most effective and battle-tested tanks. File photo: Shutterstock

Ukrainian personnel on top of a Challenger 2 tank during training in Britain. File photo: Reuters

Russian pilot reveals details of daring defection to Ukraine in military helicopter

A Russian Mi-8 military helicopter, similar to the one used in the pilot’s defection to Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

A man identified as Maksym Kuzminov in the video published on Monday. Photo: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine via YouTube

Russian servicemen at a recent media briefing in Kyiv about the treatment of captured soldiers in Ukraine. Photo: AFP

Ukraine war: UK says Russia recruiting migrants, soldiers in neighbouring countries

A Russian military poster at a bus stop in Moscow. Photo: EPA-EFE

Russian soldiers at the International Military Forum Army-2023 near Moscow, in August. Photo: EPA-EFE

Dmitry Medvedev visiting a military recruitment office in the far eastern city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia. Photo: Reuters

Ukraine’s Zelensky replaces wartime defence minister Reznikov

Ukraine’s Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov showing military uniforms during a press conference in August. Photo: AFP

A destroyed Ukrainian tank near the village of Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

Ukraine’s president nominated Rustem Umerov as new defence chief. File photo: AFP

News

World

Europe

Russia & Central Asia

Russian defence minister’s claim of Ukrainian losses comes three months into Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Moscow’s forces
Fighting in Ukraine’s southeast could be one of the keys to the war, which has been waged for more than 18 months


Russian defence minister’s claim of Ukrainian losses comes three months into Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Moscow’s forces.


Ukraine

Russia

War and conflict

Russia’s defence chief Sergei Shoigu says 66,000 Ukrainians killed in counteroffensive

Russian defence minister’s claim of Ukrainian losses comes three months into Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Moscow’s forces Fighting in Ukraine’s southeast could be one of the keys to the war, which has been waged for more than 18 months

Russian defence minister’s claim of Ukrainian losses comes three months into Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Moscow’s forces

Fighting in Ukraine’s southeast could be one of the keys to the war, which has been waged for more than 18 months