The Russian army pushed back Ukrainian forces trying to advance into the regions Zaporizhia and Danietsk inflicting heavy losses on them, the Ministry of Defense of Russia announced yesterday Saturday.

“The total losses of the Ukrainian forces in the above-mentioned areas in one day reached up to 300 soldiers, 9 tanks, including 4 Leopards, and 11 armored fighting vehicles, including 4 American Bradleys,” said the spokesman of the ministry, Igor Konashenkov. adding that a CAESAr self-propelled gun was also destroyed.

This information is impossible to independently verify.

Ukrainian forces, which have begun their long-awaited counteroffensive, tried to advance near the town of Ornihiv and the border of Zaporizhia and Donetsk regions, south of the village of Velika Novosilka, he added.

“All enemy attacks were repelled”, he added, assuring that two Ukrainian formations were hit by Russian artillery.

Kiev and its Western allies often accuse Russia’s defense ministry of exaggerating Ukrainian losses and downplaying Russian ones.

Crashed drone

A remote controlled unmanned aircraft crashed in the early hours of this morning in the village Strelkovkain the Kaluga region of Russia, announced the head of the local government, Vladislav Sapsa, via the Telegram platform.

According to “initial information”, there were no “victims”, he said.

The Kaluga region neighbors Moscow to the north.

Meanwhile, an empty freight train derailed in the southern region of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, local government chief Vyachelav Gladkov said, adding that the cause was not yet known.

And in this case, “based on the first information there are no victims”, according to Mr. Gladkov. The derailment happened near a railway station in Alekseevsky.

Explosions and attacks in this last region of Russia have been a daily occurrence lately, with authorities blaming either the Ukrainian military or saboteurs close to Kiev.

Ukrainian authorities almost never claim responsibility for attacks on Russia or areas of Ukraine overrun by Russian troops, who invaded their territory in February 2022.