LUGANSK, June 5. /TASS/. Russian forces destroyed more than 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers and foreign mercenaries in the Lugansk area over the past week in the course of the special military operation, retired Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Marochko of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Militia told TASS.

"According to the Russian Defense Ministry, about 2,300 Ukrainian combatants and foreign mercenaries, 70 automobiles and pickup trucks, 24 various armored fighting vehicles, three tanks, and 58 howitzers and rocket artillery systems were destroyed in the Lugansk tactical area over the past week," Marochko said.