In the ongoing battle between Ukraine and Russia, both sides are reportedly suffering heavy casualties. According to British officials, Ukraine is fighting to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from occupied areas, and Russian losses are probably at their highest level since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March. However, Russian forces are still conducting “relatively effective defensive operations” in Ukraine’s south.
The most intense fighting has centered on the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province, around Bakhmut, and further west in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province. Ukraine has made small advances in these areas, but Russian forces are still putting up a fight.
In the past 24 hours, Russia reportedly carried out 43 airstrikes, four missile strikes, and 51 attacks from multiple rocket launchers. Ukrainian officials said that Russian forces also launched airstrikes on other regions of the east and south of the country. Sadly, two civilians were killed, with a further three wounded in the past day.
Ukrainian officials also reported that their forces destroyed a “very significant” ammunition depot near the Russian-occupied port city of Henichesk in nearby Kherson province. The Ukrainian military also claimed to have taken control of the village of Piatykhatky on the Zaporizhzhia battlefront.
However, Western analysts and military officials have cautioned that Ukraine’s counteroffensive, using advanced weapons supplied by the West, could last a long time. A group of African leaders carried out a self-styled “peace mission” to both Ukraine and Russia in recent days to try to help end their nearly 16-month-old war, but the visit ended on Saturday with no immediate signs of progress.
The death toll from flooding following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam has risen to 16 in Ukrainian-held territory, while Russian officials said 29 people died in territories controlled by Moscow. Massive flooding from the destruction of the dam on June 6 devastated towns along the lower Dnieper River in Kherson province, a front line in the war. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of causing the breach.
As the deadline for all Russian volunteer formations to sign contracts with Russia’s Defense Ministry approaches, widely seen as targeting Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Wagner leader and regular Kremlin critic Yevgeny Prigozhin said Sunday that 32,000 former prisoners had returned home after the end of their contracts with Wagner in Ukraine.
In summary, it seems that Ukraine is not going to back down from its fight against Russia, despite the high number of casualties on both sides. The conflict is far from over, and it remains to be seen if any diplomatic efforts will succeed in bringing peace to the region.
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