MELITOPOL, July 24. /TASS/. Whole platoons of Ukrainian servicemen have begun to surrender as part of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, Acting Governor of the Zaporozhye Region Yevgeny Balitsky said on Monday.

"I can say that recently, for about a month, the enemy has begun to surrender, and not just one or two people at a time, as there were defections in the spring. Now whole units are surrendering; there have been no companies, but we have seen a platoon surrender," he said during a Rossiya-24 TV broadcast.

Balitsky pointed out that the conditions for Ukrainian prisoners are decent. "I talked to some of the guys who surrendered. <...> Nobody beats anybody, nobody tortures anybody. Everybody receives normal conditions, yes, of course, interrogations take place, I was there. Those who realize that their lives are more valuable than the militaristic plans of the West are given decent conditions. I really hope that in the future many of them will stay in Zaporozhye, bring their families back here and develop the national economy," the governor said.

As the Russian Defense Ministry reported, the Ukrainian army has made unsuccessful offensive attempts since June 4. On July 11, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that Ukraine’s losses since the beginning of the counteroffensive exceeded 26,000 servicemen. Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the Ukrainian troops had not achieved any success in any direction.