MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. Starting from June 4, the armed forces of Ukraine lost over 26,000 servicemen and more than 3,000 items of military hardware during their so-called counter-offensive, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has told reporters.

"The adversary’s losses beginning from June 4 have reached over 26,000 servicemen and 3,000 items of various pieces of armament," he said.

In his words, Russian troops destroyed 21 planes, five helicopters, 1,244 tanks and other armored vehicles, 17 German-made Leopard tanks, five AMX tanks produced by France and 12 US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles in the reported period.

Moreover, Russian forces eliminated 914 special automotive equipment, two air defense systems, 25 multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS), 403 field artillery cannons and mortars.

Russian air defense systems shot down 176 HIMARS rockets, 27 Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles and 483 drones of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Shoigu underscored the damage done to the Ukrainian artillery.

"Once again, I repeat, 403 [artillery] weapons [have been destroyed], including 43 US-made artillery pieces and 46 self-propelled artillery weapons from Poland, the United States and France," the minister emphasized.

He added that Russian troops continue to strike the enemy’s reserves and West-supplied military equipment with its high-precision weapons, thus reducing the offensive potential of the Ukrainian armed forces.

According to Shoigu, foreign intelligence services, primarily those of the United States and NATO, are closely following and analyzing Russia’s combat operations and note "the high efficacy of our defense lines and barrier minefields, [and the] professional work of army aviation and ground-attack aircraft who carry out pre-emptive strike at the adversary’s targets.".