
© Sputnik / Viktor AntonyukA view shows a destroyed tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Ukraine has lost several thousand service members since launching its much-anticipated counteroffensive earlier this month, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on Wednesday.
In a statement, the ministry said that
Kiev's forces have suffered some 7,500 killed or wounded, with the tally only including service members on the front line, and not those struck by Russian high-precision missiles and airstrikes deeper into Ukrainian territory.
The estimated losses encompass the period from June 4, when the Russian Defense Ministry reported it had repelled a large-scale Ukrainian offensive along five sections of the front line in Donbass. Since then, Kiev's troops have attempted to storm Russian positions on numerous occasions, failing to gain any ground, according to Moscow.
The ministry added that in the last 24 hours, Russian troops had repelled two Ukrainian attacks near the settlement of Makarovka in the southern sector of the front. The assaults involved two Ukrainian motorized infantry companies, four tanks and 11 armored vehicles, according to the ministry. It added that each of the tanks had been destroyed, along with seven vehicles.
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