Ukraine's military says it killed 102 Russian soldiers and destroyed six tanks as well as other armaments as Ukrainian forces press forward with a counteroffensive in the country's southern region.
Ukraine's Operational Command South (OCS) reported the success in a Facebook post Thursday, saying it had carried out successful attacks on multiple Russian targets. The post comes as Ukraine has mounted its first significant effort to retake Russian-occupied areas near the southern city of Kherson.
"The destruction of enemy supplies and reserves, impact of control points and fire control of transport routes continues," the command, a formation of Ukrainian ground forces in the southern part of Ukraine, said in the post.
The command post said its aviation had carried out strikes on Russian targets including command and support points, as well as fuel, logistic and transportation infrastructure.
In addition to the slain Russian soldiers, the day's fighting ended with six destroyed tanks, as well as an MLRS "Grad" missile launcher, a Msta-B howitzer and a mobile 120-mm mortar, according to the command, which added that it saw no losses from Russian rocket strikes.
"Trying to keep the defenses on land, the enemy continues artillery and mortar shelling, as well as air and missile strikes at our positions, at civilian settlements, on local residents," the post said.
Additionally, Ukrainian forces destroyed five ammunition warehouses near Kherson and other areas, according to the command.
Supplied with weapons from Western allies, notably High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Ukraine's military has ramped up its campaign to take back Kherson, the first major city to fall since the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian military has been tightlipped about information on the offensive, but officials have been quick to tout its successes.
Ukraine's military said earlier Thursday that it destroyed a pontoon bridge built by Russian troops in the occupied Darivka village in the Kherson region. The bridge and others nearby have been targeted by Ukrainian forces to cut off Russian supply routes.
Russian troops destroyed a platoon of US-made M777 howitzers near Andreyevka in the Kherson region, a spokesman for the country's Defense Ministry told Russia's state-run TASS news agency Thursday.
The news agency also quoted Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkovl saying Russian air forces shot down eight Ukrainian drones, intercepted a Tochka-U ballistic missile and over 40 HIMARS in addition to other rockets in various regions, including Kherson.
"In the past 24 hours alone, the enemy lost 31 tanks, 22 infantry fighting vehicles, 18 other combat armored vehicles, eight pickup trucks with large-caliber machine-guns, 17 special motor vehicles and over 350 personnel during combat operations in that area," Konashenkovl said.
Newsweek has reached out to the Ukrainian and Russian ministries of defense for comment.
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