LUGANSK, June 8. /TASS/. The Ukrainian army’s casualties rose threefold in the Lugansk area in the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine over the past week, Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) people’s militia retired Lieutenant-Colonel Andrey Marochko told TASS on Thursday.

"In the area under purview of the southern battlegroup in the Lugansk tactical direction, the enemy is sustaining heavy casualties. The enemy’s irrecoverable and sanitary losses have risen threefold compared to the same period of last week [from Monday to Wednesday]," he said.

The mounting losses among the Ukrainian army personnel are due to "the enemy’s active offensive operations," Marochko explained.

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on June 7 that Russia’s forces had neutralized three Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance groups in the Lugansk People’s Republic over the past day.