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Civilians, not professionals, fighting for Ukraine in Zaporozhye Region — governor

Acting Governor Yevgeny Balitsky specified that the Ukrainian combat drones were floundering and that Ukrainian troops were "driving through minefields"

ST. PETERSBURG, June 14. /TASS/. Ukrainian service members show poor judgement on the Zaporozhye frontline, since they are not professional officers, but rather people "grabbed off the street," Acting Governor Yevgeny Balitsky said in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

"They have absolutely low coherence. These are not professional officers, but people who were grabbed off the street," he added.

The acting governor was also surprised that the enemy shows such a low level of readiness in some situations. He specified that the Ukrainian combat drones were floundering and that Ukrainian troops were "driving through minefields."

Additionally, Balitsky stated that only a quarter of the tanks sent to the Ukrainian military had reached the contact line in the Zaporozhye area, as the rest had been taken out. However, he added, some of the damaged tanks can still be repaired, which should be taken into account.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that since June 4, Ukrainian forces have been making failed counteroffensive attempts, suffering losses in manpower and hardware. On June 6, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that over the past three days, the Russian military had repelled all of Ukraine’s attempts to launch its "long-promised offensive," and that Ukraine lost up to 3,715 men. Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that the Ukrainian military had had no success in any of the combat areas.