
Moscow said on Tuesday it had thwarted another major offensive by Ukraine in Donetsk, destroying military equipment and inflicting huge personnel losses, a statement that the powerful head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group dismissed as "absurd science fiction."
Russia's defence ministry said that its forces had repelled Ukraine's second major offensive in two days, destroying, among other military equipment, eight main battle Leopard tanks supplied to Ukraine by its Western allies and 109 armoured vehicles.