MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. Ukraine has begun offensive actions "in some directions," Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar announced Monday.
"The defensive operation includes everything, including counteroffensive actions. Therefore, we are turning to offensive actions in some directions," she said on her Telegram channel.
Meanwhile, according to Malyar, "the Bakhmut direction remains the epicenter of hostilities."
Meanwhile, advisor to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office Mikhail Prodolyak tweeted that "there is no global counteroffensive […] yet."
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that, starting on the morning of June 4, Ukrainian forces began a large-scale offensive on five swaths of the frontline in the southern Donetsk direction by engaging their 23rd and 31st Mechanized Brigades, with support from other units and forces. According to Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov, six mechanized and two tank battalions were involved. Konashenkov specified that Russia’s battlegroup East eliminated over 250 servicemen, 16 tanks, 3 BMP armored personnel carriers and 21 armored combat vehicles.