LUGANSK, July 7. /TASS/. Ukrainian units deployed near Soledar and Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine) in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) are suffering heavy losses due to the incompetence of their commanders, Andrey Marochko, a colonel of the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), told TASS on Friday.

"The number of the enemy’s irretrievable and sanitary losses has increased at the Soledar-Artyomovsk sector. This is due to regular combat tasks being given by senior commanders," he said, citing Russian reconnaissance data.

While assigning combat tasks, he said, Ukrainian commanders have been ignoring the real number of soldiers and military equipment at that sector of the frontline. Also, they "deliberately underestimate the role of engineering and fortification barriers of Russian forces," he added. "Biased assessments by Ukrainian officers and the deliberate neglect of data have caused heavy losses among troops and equipment," Marochko said.