RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine has lost hundreds of pieces of Western-supplied hardware – Putin
Ukrainian forces have already lost dozens of tanks and hundreds of armored vehicles in their attacks on Russian positions, President Vladimir Putin told war correspondents on Tuesday. Kiev’s troops have so far failed to achieve success on any of the fronts in their long-touted counteroffensive, he added.
Russian positions have faced attacks in four major directions, the president said during a meeting at the Kremlin. He added that Ukrainian reserves, including those equipped with Western-supplied military hardware, had also been thrown into the fray.
However, the offensive has led to massive losses in personnel and materiel for Kiev, Putin stated. Ukraine has lost “at least 160 tanks and 360 armored vehicles,”and the military hardware destroyed by Russian troops accounts for between 25% and 30% of all Western military equipment supplied to Ukraine, the president estimated.
“There are also losses that we do not see, which are a result of long-range high-precision strikes,” Putin said, claiming that Ukraine’s actual losses are likely higher than the figures he had given. Regarding personnel, Putin said Russian casualties were “ten times lower” than among Ukrainian forces.
The president also reiterated that the “fundamental goals” of the Russian military operation in Ukraine remain the same, and that the Kremlin does not plan to change them. At the same time, Putin maintained that Moscow “sincerely sought”to reach an agreement with Kiev and resolve the differences involving former southeastern Ukrainian regions, which have since joined Russia following a series of referendums in autumn 2022.
After long touting a counteroffensive, Ukraine finally launched its operation last week, although thus far it has apparently failed to bring about any dramatic changes on the front line.
The Russian Defense Ministry has reported that Ukrainian forces have lost dozens of pieces of military hardware in their attacks, including tanks and armored vehicles supplied by the West. The ministry has also published videos showing Russian forces successfully striking Ukrainian heavy equipment.
On Tuesday, one such video showed Russian soldiers seizing a German-made Leopard 2 main battle tank and US-produced Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. Kiev has demanded more tanks from Berlin amid the intense fighting.
** Russia destroys rare Finnish armor in Ukraine – media
The Ukrainian army has lost half of the specialized Leopard 2 mine-clearing tanks that were provided by Finland, the country’s media outlets have reported, citing frontline images.
The loss was mentioned on Monday by the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat (HS), which said its military fact checker, John Helin, had confirmed the authenticity of photos of the damaged armor circulating online.
The so-called Leopard 2R Heavy Mine Breaching Vehicle is meant for creating paths through minefields for advancing forces. The Finnish firm Patria had converted ten regular Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks into the mine-breaching variant. Helsinki this year sent the six that remained operational to Ukraine. Finland’s Defense Ministry said that the vehicles were difficult to operate on its soil, particularly in the winter.
A Leopard 2R has no turret and is equipped with a distinctive British-made frontal mine plow. Three vehicles with those features were photographed on the frontline, after reportedly getting hit last Thursday during an attempted offensive near the village of Malaya Tokmachka in Zaporozhye Region.
Forbes suggested that the possible imminent “extinction” of Leopard 2Rs was not a big deal, since Kiev has other vehicles meant for the same role in its fleet. Other specialized vehicles, which appeared to share the Finnish armor’s fate, were identified by the outlet as the Soviet IMR-2 and the German Bergepanzer.
Last week, Ukraine launched its long-touted counteroffensive against Russia, attempting to use Western-supplied tanks and other military hardware to pierce through Russian defensive lines. Moscow reported repelling a number of Ukrainian attacks and said Kiev paid a heavy price for them without scoring any major victories.
Russia perceives the conflict as part of a US-led proxy war against it. Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against supplying Kiev with weapons, saying it will only increase the cost of the conflict but will not alter its outcome.
** Ukrainian spy ring busted in Russia – FSB
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has arrested several people who used to work in the national defense industry for allegedly providing Ukraine with secret documents.
In a statement on Tuesday, the agency said that several Russian nationals were acting as agents of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence. It added that they were suspected of “transferring technical documentation and samples of military products used in the production of weapons and military equipment” being used by the Russian Air Force.
The FSB also claimed that the agents were preparing sabotage attacks seeking to damage railways in Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod Regions bordering Ukraine. In particular, they were targeting those used for supplying Russian forces involved in the special military operation, the agency added.
During the bust, operatives confiscated more than four kilograms of explosives, four detonators, design documentation, and several military-related items, the FSB said, without providing further detail. The agency also seized $150,000 from the suspects.
Amid the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev, in recent months Russia’s security services have ramped up efforts to neutralize Ukrainian agents seeking to gather intel on Moscow’s military facilities or stage sabotage attacks.
Last autumn, the FSB claimed to have foiled a Ukrainian plot to blow up a Russian pipeline that provides gas to Türkiye. More recently, the agency claimed to have intercepted in May a Ukrainian saboteur group that was planning to target power lines leading to two nuclear power plants in Russia in order to “cause the shutdown of nuclear reactors… and deliver serious economic and reputational damage” to the country.
** Russia’s precision strike wipes out Ukrainian army reserves, foreign arms depot
The Russian Aerospace Forces delivered a strike by precision weapons against clusters of Ukrainian army reserves and a depot of foreign-made ammunition and armaments in the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Tuesday.
"At night, the Russian Aerospace Forces delivered multiple strikes by airborne long-range precision weapons against the amassment areas of the Ukrainian army’s operational reserves and a depot storing foreign-made ammunition and armaments. All the designated targets were destroyed. The goal of the strike was achieved," the spokesman said.
Russian forces neutralize Ukrainian subversive group in Kupyansk area
Russian forces neutralized a Ukrainian subversive group in the Kupyansk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Kupyansk direction, aircraft and artillery of the western battlegroup inflicted damage on the enemy units in areas near the settlements of Ivanovka in the Kharkov Region and Rozovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic. Near the settlement of Timkovka in the Kharkov Region, the activity of a Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance group was thwarted," the spokesman said.
Over 35 Ukrainian troops, an armored personnel carrier, a pickup truck and a D-20 howitzer were destroyed in the Kupyansk area in the past 24 hours, the general reported.
Russian forces eliminate 60 Ukrainian troops in Krasny Liman area in past day
Russian forces eliminated roughly 60 Ukrainian troops and a motorized artillery system in the Krasny Liman area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Krasny Liman direction, operational/tactical and army aviation and artillery of the battlegroup Center inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army units in areas near the settlements of Nevskoye and Belogorovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and the Serebryansky forestry," the spokesman said.
As many as 60 Ukrainian personnel, two armored combat vehicles, four motor vehicles, a Gvozdika motorized artillery system, D-20 and D-30 howitzers were destroyed in that direction in the past 24 hours, the general reported.
Russian forces repel Ukrainian attacks in Donetsk area
Russian forces repelled Ukrainian army attacks at the Vremevka bulge, near Artyomovsk and Makarovka in the Donetsk direction over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"During the last 24-hour period, Ukrainian army units continued attempts to conduct offensive operations in the south Donetsk direction, and also near the town of Artyomovsk. At the Vremevka bulge, the Kiev regime threw into battle the units hastily assembled from the remnants of the Ukrainian army brigades that had earlier sustained heavy casualties," the spokesman said.
In the past 24 hours, Russian forces repulsed three attacks by Ukrainian army units reinforced by tanks and armored combat vehicles near the settlement of Makarovka, the general reported.
"All the attacks were repelled by courageous and decisive actions of units from the battlegroup East, air strikes and artillery fire. Eight out of ten armored personnel carriers of the Ukrainian army involved in the attacks were destroyed," he said.
Russian forces repulse two Ukrainian attacks south of Artyomovsk
Russian forces repulsed two Ukrainian attacks south of Artyomovsk over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"South of the town of Artyomovsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic, two enemy attacks towards the settlement of Klreshcheyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic were successfully repulsed in the past 24 hours by active operations of the southern battlegroup," the spokesman said.
Ukrainian troops were prevented from breaking into Russian defenses, the general stressed.
"As many as 350 Ukrainian personnel, two armored combat vehicles and six motor vehicles were destroyed in the battles," he said.
Russian forces wipe out 275 Ukrainian troops in south Donetsk area
Russian forces destroyed about 275 Ukrainian troops in the south Donetsk area, near the Vremevka bulge and Artyomovsk over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"The enemy’s total losses in those areas in the past 24 hours amounted to 275 Ukrainian personnel, four tanks, 15 armored combat vehicles, eight motor vehicles and an Msta-B howitzer," the spokesman said.
Also, Russian forces successfully repulsed two Ukrainian army attacks near the settlement of Rovnopol in the Donetsk People’s Republic in the past 24 hours. They destroyed two Ukrainian tanks and three armored combat vehicles. Near the settlement of Prechistovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Russian forces eliminated the larger part of the personnel of a Ukrainian company tactical group and four infantry fighting vehicles, the general reported.
Russian forces destroy 30 Ukrainian troops in Kherson area
Russian forces destroyed roughly 30 Ukrainian troops and a motorized artillery system in the Kherson area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Kherson direction, as many as 30 Ukrainian personnel, three motor vehicles, an Msta-B howitzer and a Gvozdika motorized artillery system were destroyed in the past 24 hours as a result of damage inflicted by firepower," the spokesman said.
Russian forces strike 98 Ukrainian artillery units in past day
Russian forces struck 98 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"During the last 24-hour period, operational/tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groupings of forces inflicted damage on 98 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 114 areas," the spokesman said.
Russian air defenses intercept three Storm Shadow missiles, 10 HIMARS rockets
Russian air defense forces intercepted three Storm Shadow missiles, 10 rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and shot down six Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the past 24 hours, air defense capabilities intercepted three Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles and 10 rockets of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system," the spokesman said.
In addition, Russian air defense systems shot down six Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Staromlynovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Rabotino in the Zaporozhye Region, Korsunka in the Kherson Region, Pshenichnoye and Novokrasnyanka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, the general reported.
In total, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 442 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 238 helicopters, 4,585 unmanned aerial vehicles, 426 surface-to-air missile systems, 9,939 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,122 multiple rocket launchers, 5,100 field artillery guns and mortars and 10,927 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Blue and yellow flag, Russian dead attest to Ukrainian advance in south
Ukraine's blue and yellow flag flew over a ruined grocery store and Russian soldiers lay dead in the street of the village of Neskuchne, reached by Reuters journalists on Tuesday in the first independent confirmation of Ukraine's biggest advances for seven months against Russia's invasion.
Russia has not acknowledged any Ukrainian gains, and President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that for now he saw no need for a new mobilisation of fighting men to confront the Ukrainian counteroffensive launched last week.
"There is no such need today," Putin told a televised meeting of Russian war correspondents and military bloggers when asked about another mobilisation. But he added that it all depended on what Russia wanted to achieve in what it describes as a "special military operation" in Ukraine.
More than 15 months since Putin sent troops into Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian forces are still battling along a 1,000-km (600-mile) front line, though far from the capital Kyiv.
Russian forces tried, and failed, to capture Kyiv in the hours and days after the invasion began on Feb. 24 last year.
In comments shown on the Russian state TV broadcast, Putin said he faced a question only he could answer - should Russia try to take Kyiv again?
Once again on Tuesday Putin threatened to withdraw Russia from the Black Sea grain deal, designed to ease a global food crisis worsened by the invasion, saying the West had cheated Moscow. Russia and Ukraine are both major agricultural exporters.
"We are thinking about getting out of this grain deal now," Putin told the meeting. "Unfortunately, we were once again cheated - nothing was done in terms of liberalising the supply of our grain to foreign markets."
The deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey will expire on July 17 unless Russia agrees to extend it.
UKRAINIAN TROOPS RIDE THROUGH RECAPTURED VILLAGE
Not a single resident could be found in Neskuchne, one of a cluster of settlements on the Mokry Yali river that Ukraine says its troops have captured since their counteroffensive began in a steady advance southwards into Russian-held territory.
Ukrainian troops rode through the muddy streets on the back of a tank and in a pick-up truck. A warplane flew overhead, firing flares.
"Three days ago the Russian forces were still here. We chased them out of Neskuchne. Glory to Ukraine," said Artem, a member of a Ukrainian territorial defence unit, who gave no surname.
The mainly one- and two-storey buildings in the village, which had a population of several hundred before the invasion, had nearly all been damaged. The scene was silent, apart for the crump of artillery fire in the distance.
Reuters saw at least three dead Russian soldiers lying in the street, including one whose fly-blown body lay by an abandoned Russian military vehicle. Artem said the advancing Ukrainian troops had watched from a drone as comrades initially tried to evacuate him, only to dump him and flee.
It was the first independent confirmation of Ukraine's advance in the area, roughly 90 km southwest of the city of Donetsk, one of several axes where it is trying to break through Russian lines.
In Washington, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said as he met U.S. President Joe Biden that the military alliance's support to Ukraine was making a difference on the battlefield.
"It's still early days, but what we do know is that the more land Ukrainians are able to liberate, the stronger hand they will have at the negotiating table," Stoltenberg said.
EARLY DAYS OF ASSAULT
Ukraine had stuck to a defensive posture through seven months of a Russian winter and spring campaign that yielded scant gains. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday night gave an updated casualty count for a Russian missile strike on an apartment building and warehouses in his birthplace of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine - 11 killed and more than 30 injured.
Russia, for its part, has had months to prepare several layers of defensive lines, meaning Ukraine's advance so far does not necessarily amount to a breach through the front.
After a week of giving little information, Ukraine said on Monday it had retaken seven settlements so far. Troops have advanced up to 6.5 km (4 miles) and seized 90 square km (35 square miles) of ground along a 100-km-long (60-mile-long) stretch of the southern front line, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said.
Putin told the televised meeting with war correspondents that Ukraine's counteroffensive had not been successful in any areas, and claimed that Ukrainian casualties had been 10 times higher than Russia's.
Leaked U.S. intelligence documents have estimated Russia has suffered losses several times greater than Ukraine's, with the worst casualties coming in recent months. Ukraine does not usually comment on its losses.
Putin declined to say whether Moscow would launch a new offensive of its own, saying that Russia's future plans would be decided once the Ukrainian counteroffensive was over.
The Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday its forces had fended off Ukrainian attacks near the villages of Makarivka, Rivnopil and Prechystivka. Makarivka is located further south along the river from Neskuchne.
Moscow also released video footage of what it said were German-made Leopard tanks and U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles captured in battle. Reuters could not immediately verify the location or time of the footage.
RT/Tass/Reuters