LUGANSK, May 2. /TASS/. Losses by Ukrainian forces of both manpower and military equipment in certain sectors of the line of engagement doubled over the past week as compared to the previous week, Andrey Marochko, a retired lieutenant colonel in the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), told TASS on Tuesday.

According to him, an analysis of the losses sustained by Ukrainian troops in the Kupyansk, Krasny Liman and Donetsk directions shows a sharp increase against the preceding week. The amount of vehicles destroyed grew from 53 to 102, while the number of Ukrainian fighters and foreign mercenaries killed rose by almost 1,000 to reach 4,000 casualties, Marochko said. Eleven D-20 howitzers were eliminated in the past week compared to seven the week before, while the number of self-propelled 2S1 Gvozdika howitzers destroyed went up from four to seven, and twice as many US-made AN/TPQ-50 counterfire radars - four - were eliminated in the period as in the prior period, he said, citing Russian reconnaissance data.

On Monday, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said that in the past 24 hours Russian forces had inflicted damage on Ukrainian troops near Ugledar and Privolnoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), as well as near Malaya Tokmachka in the Zaporozhye Region, with a body count of roughly 55 enemy soldiers killed.