MOSCOW. June 6 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Armed Forces have been trying to launch an offensive in various sectors over the past three days but have had no success, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.
"Over the past three days, the Ukrainian regime launched the long-promised offensive on various parts of the front, having concentrated large amounts of hardware and troops for those purposes," Shoigu said.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces' 23rd and 31st Mechanized Brigades tried to mount an offensive in five sectors on June 4, he said.
"The enemy did not achieve success in either of them, but suffered substantial casualties, including 300 troops, 16 tanks, 26 armored combat vehicles and 14 trucks," Shoigu said.
"The Kiev regime tried to launch an offensive in seven sectors using five brigades on June 5. It was stopped, and suffered even bigger losses: over 1,600 troops [and] 28 tanks, including eight Leopards and three AMX-10 wheeled tanks, and 136 pieces of other military hardware, including 79 which were foreign made," he said.