MELITOPOL, September 20. /TASS/. Russian forces have eliminated seven pieces of equipment and more than 100 Ukrainian troops near the village of Rabotino in the Zaporozhye area in the last 24 hours, Vladimir Rogov, leader of the We Are Together With Russia movement, told TASS.

"Near Rabotino and Verbovoye, the adversary has engaged a large number of militants and is deploying them to attack; they are trying to break through our first line of defense but are being killed on approach. <...> Over the past 24 hours, equipment has been eliminated, personnel in large numbers, over 100 Ukrainian militants. And at least seven units of hardware. The adversary is seeing no success," Rogov said.

He specified that Ukrainian troops are also trying to attack the villages of Novoprokopovka and Ilchenkovo located south of Rabotino. "The enemy artillery is very powerful. The number of cluster munitions being used has increased incrementally, sometimes even one or two of our soldiers is being hit by several shells or rockets," Rogov added.

The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that the Ukrainian armed forces had been making unsuccessful attempts at a counteroffensive since June 4. On September 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that since then, Ukrainian troops have lost 71,500 people, 543 tanks and almost 18,000 armored vehicles of various types. The Russian head of state noted that the "counteroffensive" produced no results.