MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military made new attempts to attack Russian troop positions in the southern Donetsk area, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Monday.

"The enemy made new attempts to attack in areas near the Oktyabr state farm and the settlement of Novodonetskoye in the southern Donetsk direction, committing up to three battalion tactical groups reinforced by tanks to action. The enemy’s offensive is being successfully contained by active operations of units, artillery and aircraft of the battlegroup East," the ministry said.

The Kiev regime’s attempts to break through the Russian troop defenses in the southern Donetsk area on June 4 did not crown with success, the ministry specified.

"The enemy sustained heavy casualties and was pushed back to its initial positions by the morning of June 5 as a result of damage inflicted by combined firepower. The Ukrainian armed formations are sustaining manpower and equipment losses," the ministry reported.

In particular, the Ukrainian army’s 31st mechanized brigade that attacked near the settlement of Neskuchnoye lost over 250 personnel, 16 tanks and 24 armored combat vehicles, including three Bradley fighting vehicles. Five Ukrainian soldiers were captured, it said.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported earlier on Monday that the enemy had attempted a large-scale offensive in five frontline areas in the southern Donetsk direction from the morning of June 4 to break through the Russian defensive lines in the most vulnerable sector in its assessment. The enemy failed to achieve its goals, the ministry stressed.