Russia Thwarts Major Ukraine Attack

Russia claims to have thwarted a large-scale offensive by Ukraine in the Donetsk region, killing 250 Ukrainian troops and destroying tanks and armoured vehicles. The Russian defence ministry said that Ukraine had launched the attack using six mechanised and two tank battalions. However, there has been no update from Ukraine on the alleged offensive. Ukraine has been preparing for a counteroffensive to take back territory occupied by Russia since it began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as well as the Crimean Peninsula it seized in 2014. Russia said that its forces killed 250 Ukraine soldiers and also destroyed 16 tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armoured combat vehicles. The ministry added that Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov “was at one of the forward command posts” at the time.