MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. The Ukrainian armed forces attempted to launch a counterattack in the area of the Ivashkino settlement, Kharkov Region, by efforts of ex-convicts, however, more than half of the team was eliminated by Russian troops, a Russian defense source told TASS.

"In the area of Ivashkino, the enemy attempted a counterattack by efforts of ex-convicts from the 129th separate heavy mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces. More than half of the Ukrainian nationalists were eliminated by Russian strikes, and the rest fled to their original positions," the source said.

The defense sources earlier reported that Ukraine deceived about 11,000 convicts who joined the Ukrainian armed forces: the state never granted them the promised rights, in particular, probation supervision was not terminated for any of the convicts after a year of service. After being wounded, the former convicts cannot be discharged or transferred to other positions. A convict can only be an assault unit member.