Russia loses 27 artillery systems, 12 APVs and 6 tanks in one day: Ukraine

On Friday, the Ukrainian army destroyed or captured 27 Russian artillery systems, 12 armored personnel carriers (APV) and six tanks, according to the country’s general staff.

The claims were made on social media as part of a daily update posted on Saturday.

Over the past few days, Ukrainian forces have made gains around the besieged Donbass town of Bakhmut, which Moscow has spent the past few months trying to seize. kyiv is expected to launch a major counter-offensive in the coming months, although President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he needs “a little more time” for the necessary equipment to arrive.

The latest Ukrainian military report claims that 590 Russian servicemen were “liquidated” on Friday, bringing the estimated total number of enemy casualties since the start of the invasion to 198,260.

Since the launch of Putin’s “special military operation” in February 2022, kyiv claims to have destroyed 3,751 Russian tanks and 7,307 APVs.

Ukraine also claimed to have destroyed 29 Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS) and two anti-aircraft missile systems on Friday.

Saturday’s report concluded: “Hit the occupier! Together we will win! Our power is in the truth!

Newsweek was unable to independently verify Ukraine’s Russian casualty figures, and Moscow does not release its own casualty data for comparison. The Russian Ministry of Defense has been contacted for comment.

British Defense Intelligence also released a military update on Saturday saying Ukrainian troops had “regained at least a kilometer of territory” in the past four days.

UK claimed Russia’s 72^n/a The separate motor rifle brigade ‘probably withdrew in bad order’ from southern Bakhmut, following the Ukrainian attack, with the unit ‘burdened with allegations of poor character and limited combat effectiveness “.

On Friday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the pro-Moscow Wagner mercenary group, claimed Russian soldiers “just fled the flanks” around Bakhmut.

He said Russia had lost ground which it had taken months to capture, commenting: “The whole western operation at Bakhmut lasted from October 8 [2022], seven months. During this time, we notably took the Berkhivka reservoir, the Berkhivka settlement and moved along the Bakhmut-Slavinsk highway in the direction of Slavinsk. Now the reverse process is happening.”

Wagner, who has recruited heavily from Russian prisons, is heavily committed to Bakhmut itself, with Prigozhin insisting the devastated town “will be taken”.

Earlier this week, the UK announced it had supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which can hit targets up to 250km away, meaning all of Russian-occupied Ukraine is within their range.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the weapons would help give Ukrainians “the best chance to defend themselves against Russia’s continued brutality”.