MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/. The Ukrainian armed forces lost about 100 Marines during the attempted assault on the DPR settlement of Opytnoye, Acting DPR Head Denis Pushilin said.

He called Ukrainian reports that he Ukrainian forces managed to entrench in Opytnoye a hoax.

"The Ukrainian forces believed the Ukrainian hoax themselves, we checked the information. What did the Ukrainian forces do in the end? They threw Marines there, […] but, of course, [Russia’s] 1st Army Corps Brigade had the situation under control. [Ukrainian forces] lost about 100 people as killed alone, their Marines," Pushilin told Solovyov Live.

Previously, the Russian Defense Ministry also reported high Ukrainian casualties near Opytnoye. According to the ministry, Ukrainian assault groups suffer huge casualties and, despite the claims they disseminated, are unable to progress and entrench in the settlement.

Pushilin also said that there is a positional standoff on the Maryinka direction, which is important for progress on the Ugledar direction, with Russian forces actually advancing several hundred meters. A difficult positional standoff also takes place on the Ugledar direction: the Ukrainian army rotated its personnel and intensified its action, constantly attempting reconnaissance in force. Positional clashes also take place under Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) around the clock, Pushilin added.