MOSCOW. May 17 (Interfax) - The Russian Armed Forces have continued to take more advantageous positions and move into Ukrainian defensive lines in several sectors of the special military operation zone over the past week, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.
"Units of the western group of forces have continued to take more advantageous positions and caused damage to the formations of 18 enemy brigades near Artyomovka and Makeyevka in the Lugansk People's Republic [LPR], Kislovka and Sinkovka in the Kharkov region, Yampolovka, Krasny Liman, and Torskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic [DPR]," the ministry said.
Over the past week, the southern group of forces has continued to move into Ukrainian forces' defensive lines, and units of the central group of forces have improved their frontline position, it said.
Units of the western group of forces repelled 37 attacks by assault groups of eight Ukrainian Armed Forces brigades and two National Guard brigades near Chervonaya Dibrova, Novoyegorovka, Stelmakhovka, and Nevskoye in the LPR and near Berestovoye, Kislovka, and Olshanka in the Kharkov region. Ukraine's losses in said area included up to 960 troops, two tanks, nine armored fighting vehicles, 24 automobiles, four Grad and Verba multiple rocket launcher vehicles, and 25 field artillery pieces. Two field ammunition depots were also destroyed, it said.
Units of the southern group of forces continued to move into Ukrainian defensive lines and caused damage to personnel and hardware of six assault brigades, ten mechanized brigades, and seven Territorial Defense brigades near Andreyevka, Antonovka, Georgiyevka, Grigorovka, Kleshcheyevka, Kurdyumovka, Paraskoviyevka, and Novomikhailovka in the DPR, it said.
They also repelled nine counterattacks by Ukrainian Armed Forces assault units near Belogorovka in the LPR and near Razdolovka, Krasnoye, Spornoye, and Chasov Yar in the DPR, it said.
Ukraine's losses in said sector involved up to 3,725 troops, eight tanks, including five Leopard-2A1s, 13 armored fighting vehicles, 55 automobiles, a Grad multiple rocket launcher vehicle, 47 field artillery pieces, three Nota and Bukovel-AD electronic warfare stations, two AN/TPQ-36 weapon locating radars, and 16 field ammunition depots, it said.
Units of the central group of forces improved their frontline position and caused damage to 14 Ukrainian Armed Forces brigades near Novoaleksandrovka, Yevgenovka, Karlovka, and Rozovka in the DPR, it said.
They also repelled 59 counterattacks by Ukrainian assault groups near Arkhangelskoye, Semenovka, Ocheretino, Solovyovo, Novgorodskoye, Umanskoye, Netailovo, and Berdychi in the DPR.
Over the past week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 2,475 troops, four tanks, including one Abrams, 20 armored fighting vehicles, 27 automobiles, and a vehicle of a RAK-SA-12 multiple rocket launcher. In addition, 23 field artillery pieces, including five Paladin self-propelled artillery systems and three M777 howitzers, were struck as part of counterbattery engagements.
Units of the eastern group of forces improved their tactical position and caused damage to three Ukrainian Armed Forces brigades and three Territorial Defense brigades near Ugledar, Velikaya Novoselka, Vodyanoye, and Vladimirovka in the DPR and near Chervonoye and Dorozhnyanka in the Zaporozhye region. They repelled two counterattacks by assault groups from the 123rd Territorial Defense Brigade and the 21st National Guard Brigade of Ukraine near Staromayorskoye and Urozhainoye in the DPR, it said.
Ukraine's losses in said sector amounted to up to 965 troops, one tank, nine armored fighting vehicles, 28 automobiles, a Grad multiple rocket launcher vehicle, and two Strela-10 air defense missile system vehicles. Twenty field artillery pieces, including four Krab self-propelled artillery systems and four M777 howitzers, were hit as part of counterbattery engagements, the ministry said.
Units of the Dnepr group of forces caused damage to personnel and hardware of two Ukrainian Armed Forces brigades, the 35th Marine Brigade, three Territorial Defense brigades, and three National Guard brigades near Orekhov, Verbovoye, Nesteryanka, Malaya Tokmachka in the Zaporozhye region, near Nikopol and Kapulovka in the Dnepropetrovsk region, and near Zolotaya Balka and Ivanovka in the Kherson region, it said.
Ukraine's losses in said area included up to 265 troops, two armored fighting vehicles, 15 automobiles, a Vampire multiple rocket launcher vehicle, 35 field artillery pieces, including 14 M777 howitzers, and a self-propelled Buk air defense missile system, it said.