Units of the Russian Armed Forces thwarted an attack by Ukrainian militants by destroying a mortar that was covering Ukrainian assault units in the Zaporozhye direction, a commander of a unit of the Russian Armed Forces said.
"While trying to storm our positions by means of aerial reconnaissance, the position of the enemy mortar covering his units was revealed. After transmitting the coordinates of the target, our artillery accurately hit the target. The mortar fell silent. The offensive was neutralized," the commander of the Russian forces said.
The Ukrainian offensive in the southern Donetsk, Zaporozhye, and Artemovsk directions began on June 4, with Ukrainian forces concentrating their main attack in the Zaporozhye sector. Kiev deployed NATO-trained brigades armed with Western equipment, including Leopard tanks.
On July 3, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that in a month of unsuccessful attacks, Ukrainian forces had lost 18 planes and helicopters and 920 armored vehicles, including 16 Leopard tanks – "almost 100% of the tanks of this type supplied by Poland and Portugal." The enemy has not achieved its objectives in any direction, and the Ukrainian leadership, at the insistence of the West, demands that the offensive continue regardless of losses, Shoigu added.