Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu: Statement

https://t.me/mod_russia/27145

This is the formal translation.  (The rest of the comment is deprecated:  Note that this is machine translated.  I do not yet see an English formal translation and none of my usual VPN servers will let me in to the RuMod site.   Once the formal English statement is released, I will check for material differences.  This machine translation is being widely used currently.)

Also note that for the first time, we have a disclosure of Russian losses and injured.  There is no comparison with Ukrainian losses and injured and on the Ukrainian side, it is worse by several stunning orders of magnitude.

—o0o—

⚡️Over three days, the Ukrainian regime launched a long-promised offensive in different areas of the front, concentrating large quantities of hardware and manpower for this purpose.

◽️ On 4 June 2023, the 23rd and 31st mechanised brigades of the AFU attempted an offensive in five directions.
The enemy did not succeed in any of them and suffered significant losses: 300 servicemen, 16 tanks, 26 armoured fighting vehicles, and 14 motor vehicles.

◽️ On 5 June 2023, the Kiev regime attempted an offensive in seven directions with five brigades. The enemy was stopped and suffered even greater losses: more than 1,600 troops, 28 tanks, including 8 Leopard tanks and 3 AMX-10 wheeled tanks, 136 other military vehicles, including 79 foreign-manufactured ones.

◽️ The attempted offensive was thwarted, the enemy was stopped, and Russian troops showed courage and heroism in the fighting.

❗️I repeat that the enemy failed to achieve its goals, and suffered considerable and incomparable losses.

◽️The units of the 433rd Motorised Rifle Regiment of the 127th Motorised Rifle Division, the 37th and 60th motorised rifle brigades distinguished themselves in battles, displaying persistence and fortitude.

◽️The 3rd Company of the 37th Motorised Rifle Brigade under the command of Junior Lieutenant Yury Zhelanov and the commander of the 1st Battalion of the same brigade Major Vladimir Polozhentsev showed special heroism.

◽️The divisions, having appeared on a direction of the main attack, steadfastly defended the occupied positions and have caused considerable losses to superior forces of the enemy’s 37th Marine Infantry Brigade. Under the threat of being surrounded, Junior Lieutenant Zhelanov, being wounded, led his company to previously equipped defensive positions, where he successfully stopped the advancing enemy units.

◽️The skilful actions of our Operational-Tactical, Ground-Attack and Army aviation should be especially noted. They employed 50 anti-tank guided missiles. As a result, 5 tanks and 29 other armoured fighting vehicles were destroyed.

📊All in all during 3 days of fighting in all directions, the losses of the AFU amounted to 3,715 troops, 52 tanks, 207 armoured fighting vehicles, 134 motor vehicles, 5 aircraft, 2 helicopters, 48 pieces of field artillery, and 53 unmanned aerial vehicles.

◽️Unfortunately, we have some losses too. A total of 71 servicemen died and 210 were wounded in repelling the enemy offensive by the combined group of forces. Fifteen tanks, 9 infantry fighting vehicles, 2 motor vehicles, and 9 guns were hit.

◽️Tonight, the Kiev regime committed another terrorist crime: the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station facilities were blown up, flooding a large area. The purpose of these actions is reportedly as follows.

◽️Having failed to succeed in the offensive operations, the enemy intends to redeploy the units and hardware from Kherson direction to its offensive area in order to strengthen its potential, significantly weakening its position in Kherson direction. The enemy has begun building defensive positions on the right bank of the Dnepr River, which indicates the intention to turn to defence there.

◽️In order to prevent Russia’s offensive actions in this section of the front, the Kiev regime has carried out a sabotage, essentially a terrorist act, which has resulted in the flooding of significant areas and will have serious and long-lasting environmental consequences.

◽️In addition, the release of water from the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station, according to available data, has been significantly increased, leading to even greater flooding of areas.

◽️This fact proves that the large-scale diversion was planned in advance by the Kiev regime.

The Russian Minister of Defence General of the Army Sergei Shoigu