Russia’s Defence Ministry: Ukraine begins counteroffensive in Southern Donetsk direction

In the morning of 4 June, Ukraine’s Armed Forces began a counteroffensive on five parts of the front line in the Southern Donetsk direction in the self-proclaimed Donetsk “people’s republic”, Russia’s Defence Ministry reports.

“The enemy’s goal was to break through Russia’s defences in what it considered to be the most vulnerable area of the front. The enemy was unsuccessful in achieving its goals,” the statement reads.

The ministry claims that six mechanised and two tank battalions belonging to Ukraine’s Armed Forces were unable to break through the defences. According to the Russian military, Ukraine’s losses amounted to more than 250 troops, 16 tanks, 21 armoured fighting vehicles, and three infantry fighting vehicles.

The ministry has also posted a video which allegedly shows Russian servicemen destroying Ukrainian military hardware “involved in the attempt to launch an offensive”.

Russian Telegram accounts previously broke the news about Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the Southern Donetsk direction. Ukraine has not yet officially confirmed the offensive on this part of the front line.

On Sunday, 4 June, Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov posted a mysterious tweet citing Depeche Mode’s song Enjoy the Silence. 

“Words are very unnecessary, they can only do harm,” he tweeted.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that Ukraine’s army was ready for the counteroffensive. He added that Ukraine still wanted to receive some more weapons from its allies. “We would like to have certain things, but we can’t wait for months,” he said.