Nearly 200 Russian soldiers killed in a day: Ukraine

Kiev, June 26

The Ukrainian military has claimed that nearly 200 Russian soldiers were killed and a variety of equipment had also been destroyed in the past one day.

Although the claim was not officially verified, the military went on to say that in the last 48 hours, the frontlines across the war-torn nation witnessed heavy combat, with more than 20 engagements occurring in areas in the Donetsk region -- chiefly Lyman, Marinka and Bakhmut, CNN reported.

In its latest update, the General Staff said the Russians also carried out 25 air strikes on Sunday.

There had been heavy Russian artillery and mortar fire in the Kupyansk area of Kharkiv, where the Russians have been trying to break through for over a month, the military added.

The General Staff insisted all Russian efforts to take territory had been foiled.

Across the Donetsk frontlines, the fighting was characterised by exchanges of indirect fire, but with little movement.

However, the Ukrainians say they are on the front foot around Bakhmut.

"(Troops) hold the initiative, continue assault operations and push the enemy back. Over the last day, the Ukrainian forces advanced 600 to 1,000 meters on the southern and northern flanks around Bakhmut,” CNN quoted Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for the Eastern Grouping of the Armed Forces, as saying.

In the south, where Ukrainian forces have attempted to break through Russian lines, the General Staff said a Russian effort to regain lost positions in the area of Novodarivka had also failed.

Russian artillery continued to strike about 30 settlements along the frontlines in the Zaporizhzhia region, it added.

In Kherson, Nataliya Humenyuk, a spokesperson for Ukrainian forces in the south, said the Russians struggled to regain positions on the east bank of the river Dnipro, which was flooded by the June 6 damage to the dam at Nova Kakhovka.