Ukraine's 'Long-Promised' Offensive Conducted Over Last Three Days: Russia's MoD

Kiev has embarked on its long-promised offensive along different sections of the front over the past three days, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday.

"Within the past three days, the Ukrainian regime has launched the long-promised offensive on different sections of the front, concentrating a large amount of equipment and human resources for this purpose," Shoigu clarified.

The Russian defense chief added that on June 4, Ukrainian troops attempted an offensive in five directions in the Donbass region, but the enemy failed on all fronts.

The Russian official said that the Ukrainian military lost at least 300 soldiers, 16 tanks, 26 armored combat vehicles and 14 cars during the first failed offensive attempt on June 4.

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On June 5, Ukraine's forces tried to attack in seven directions with five brigades, Kiev lost over 1,600 soldiers, eight Leopard tanks that day, according to Shoigu.

Shoigu said that Russian soldiers and officers demonstrated "heroism and courage" in thwarting the attacks and preventing Kiev from achieving its goals in the offensive.

The minister noted that 71 Russian servicemen were killed, and 210 were injured during the Ukrainian offensive, with 15 tanks and nine infantry fighting vehicles ending up destroyed.

Minister Shoigu also noted that on June 6, the Kiev regime's troops carried out a terrorist attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in Russia's Kherson region, destroying the upper part of the facility. He added that Kiev carried out the terrorist attack on the power station to prevent Russia's military offensive.

"The purpose of these actions, according to available data, is as follows. After failing in offensive operations, in order to strengthen its potential, the enemy intends to transfer units and equipment from the Kherson direction to the area of their offensive operations, thus significantly weakening its positions in the Kherson direction," Shoigu noted.

The Kakhovka Hydropower Plant suffered heavy damage Tuesday morning, with its dam destroyed and water flowing uncontrollably downstream, risking major flooding, power cuts and water shortages on both sides of the Dnepr River.

"In addition, according to the available data, the discharge of water from the Kamianske Hydroelectric Power Plant has significantly increased, which leads to even greater flooding of territories. This fact testifies to pre-planned massive sabotage by the Kiev regime," Shoigu explained.