Russia claims it inflict significant losses: Ukraine attacks the front line

 By: News Peddlers 

Ukraine war zone [photo credit: Harriman institute] 

During the 68th week of Russia's invasion, Ukraine claims to have reclaimed about 100 square kilometers (40 sq miles) of its territory as a long-planned counterattack gathers steam.

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, claimed that Ukraine was suffering "catastrophic" losses and that the number of casualties in Kiev was ten times higher than in Moscow.

"All counteroffensive attempts made so far have failed, but the offensive potential of the troops of the Kyiv regime is still preserved,” said Putin.

The counteroffensive is still in its early days, said Demetries Andrew Grimes, a former commander who spent two years retraining the Ukrainian military from 2015 to 2017.

“All we’re seeing right now is softening of the [Russian] front lines with harassment fire with everything from small arms and rockets to drones and artillery,” Grimes told Al Jazeera.

“The aim of that is to stretch out the opposition to thin their forces… they’re lengthening the conflict zone and forcing the Russians to expose their supply lines so those can be disrupted and [Ukrainian forces] can encircle smaller groups.”

Along a large portion of the 1,200 km (745 mile) front, Ukraine stepped up its attacks. On June 9, the Kreminna area of the eastern Donetsk region saw four Ukrainian ground attacks that were thwarted, according to the Russian defense ministry.

In the south, Ukrainian forces advanced around Bakhmut by 1,200 meters (3,940 feet) on June 9 and by 1,400 meters (4,600 feet) the next day, according to eastern forces spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyi. These advancements were confirmed by Russian military sources.

On June 9, Ukrainian forces opened a fresh front where Donetsk and the Zaporizhia region meet.

However, two days later, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that "geolocated footage and Russian sources indicated that Ukrainian forces liberated multiple settlements... [near] Velyka Novosilka in western Donetsk Oblast." The Russian defense ministry had claimed that the initial attacks had been repelled.