Sun 18 June 2023:
UK says Russia and Ukraine are suffering high numbers of military casualties as Kyiv fights to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from occupied areas in the early stages of its counteroffensive.
Russian losses are probably at their highest level since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March, UK military officials said in their regular assessment.
According to British intelligence, the most intense fighting has centered on the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province, around Bakhmut and further west in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province.
While the update reported that Ukraine was on the offensive in these areas and had “made small advances,” it said that Russian forces were conducting “relatively effective defensive operations” in Ukraine’s south.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 18 June 2023.
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/kAqNWJPcea
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/mfO2AfBSy2
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) June 18, 2023
Ukrainian attacks on three sections of frontline repelled: Russia
Russia’s defence ministry says its forces have repelled a series of Ukrainian attacks across three sections of the frontline.
The ministry said Kyiv was pressing most actively in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports.
The statement did not mention the settlement of Piatykhatky in Zaporizhzhia region, which a Russian-installed official said earlier had been taken by Ukraine.
Ukraine troops seize Zaporizhzhya village with ‘colossal losses’
A Russia-installed official says Ukrainian forces captured the village of Piatykhatky in the Zaporizhzhya region – a rare admission from the Russian side that it lost ground in Ukraine.
“The Ukrainian forces have managed to take it under their control,” Vladimir Rogov wrote on his Telegram channel.
Ukraine troops were able to take the territory despite suffering “colossal losses” during waves of attacks, with “hundreds” of Ukrainian soldiers killed, Rogov said. There was no confirmation from the Ukrainian military.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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