MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. Russian forces destroyed up to 60 Ukrainian troops and one US-made M777 artillery gun in the Kherson area over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov told a briefing on Sunday.
"In the Kherson direction, up to 60 Ukrainian personnel, one tank, eight vehicles, a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, as well as a US-made M777 artillery system, were destroyed in the past 24 hours as a result of damage inflicted by firepower," the spokesman said.
Russian forces also destroyed over 210 Ukrainian troops in the south Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas over the past day, he added.
"In the south Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, the defending units of the battlegroup East, aircraft, artillery and heavy flamethrower systems held off enemy attacks near the settlements of Rabotino, Novodanilovka and Malaya Tokmachka of the Zaporozhye Region," Konashenkov said.
Moreover, the activity of the Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance group was thwarted near Rovnopol in the Donetsk People’s Republic, he added.
In the Donetsk area Russian forces eliminated up to 180 Ukrainian troops over the past day, the spokesman said. "Up to 180 Ukrainian personnel and foreign mercenaries, four armored combat vehicles, three cars, a Czech-made RM-70 Vampire multiple rocket launcher, a Msta-B howitzer, as well as a US-made M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery system, were destroyed in the past 24 hours," he said.
Russian forces also eliminated up to 80 Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman area over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.
"The activities of two Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance groups were thwarted near the Serebryansky forestry. Up to 80 Ukrainian personnel, one infantry fighting vehicle, two armored combat vehicles, two pickup trucks, a Gvozdika motorized artillery system, two D-30 howitzers and one D-20 howitzer were destroyed in this area in the past 24 hours," the spokesman said.
In the Krasny Liman area forces of Russia’s battlegroup Center repelled the attacks by divisions of three brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces, he noted.
Moreover, Russian forces destroyed an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian army near Staritsa in the Kharkov Region, as well as an ammunition depot in the Zaporozhye Region, Konashenkov reported.
The Ukrainian armed forces continued attempts to advance in the Donetsk, South Donetsk and Krasny Liman areas in the past 24 hours, the spokesman noted.
Russian air defense forces shot down ten Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day, Konashenkov said.
"During the last 24-hour period, ten Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed by air defense forces in areas near the settlements of Orlinskoye, Zaytsevo, Petrovskoye and Soledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Zolotaryovka, Privolye, Dachnoye, Raygorodok and Kovalyovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic," he said.
In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 453 Ukrainian warplanes, 241 helicopters, 4,948 unmanned aerial vehicles, 426 surface-to-air missile systems, 10,604 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,137 multiple rocket launchers, 5,396 field artillery guns and mortars and 11,547 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov concluded.