MELITOPOL, May 22. /TASS/. Ukraine’s armed forces lost several dozen troops in Russia’s overnight strikes on the positions of the Ukrainian army in the city of Dnepr (formerly known as Dnepropetrovsk), Vladimir Rogov, leader of the We Are Together With Russia movement, told TASS on Monday.

He told TASS earlier that Russian forces had delivered strikes on the positions of Ukrainian troops in Dnepr ahead of them being sent out to the combat engagement line in the Zaporozhye area.

"As a result of tonight’s strike on the positions of Ukrainian militants - where there were not just privates but also officers - according to our sources, at least several dozen men were killed," he said, adding that, according to preliminary data, the strike was delivered from a drone.

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said earlier on Monday that Russian forces had hit munitions, weapons and aircraft of the Ukrainian army at the Dnepr airfield with the use of high-precision weapons.

Rogov told TASS on May 19 that some 65,000 Ukrainian troops were deployed along the combat engagement line in the Zaporozhye area or near it. Considerable forces are deployed in Dnepr and the Kiev-controlled city of Zaporozhye.

Acting governor of the Zaporozhye region Yevgeny Balitsky said on May 18 that Ukrainian troops had missed their chance for a counterattack in the region in the fall of 2022. He repeatedly stressed that strong defenses had been set up along the combat engagement line. Rogov, in turn, noted that Zaporozhye could become a priority area for Ukrainian troops due to Kiev’s plans to seize the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, reach the Sea of Azov and cut off the land corridor to Crimea. It has been regularly reported that Ukraine was deploying troops, weapons and foreign mercenaries in the area. The topic of Ukraine’s possible offensive has been floating in the mass media for months.