Ukraine is fighting to free the Kremlin's forces from occupied areas in the early stages of its counteroffensive, resulting in a large number of military casualties for both Russia and Ukraine, according to British officials on Sunday.
UK military officials stated in their regular assessment that Russian losses are probably at their highest level since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March.
According to the news agency AP, British intelligence said that Bakhmut, in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province, and further west in the eastern Donetsk province of Ukraine, have seen the most intense fighting.
The update stated that Russian forces were engaging in "relatively effective defensive operations" in Ukraine's south, despite Ukraine being on the offensive in these areas and having "made small advances."
Russian losses at highest level
In a regular update Sunday morning, the Ukrainian military stated that Russia had launched 51 attacks from multiple rocket launchers, 43 airstrikes, and four missile strikes in the previous 24 hours.
As per the assertion by the General Staff, Russia keeps on focusing its endeavors on hostile tasks in Ukraine's modern east, centering assaults around Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka, and Lyman in Donetsk territory, with 26 battle conflicts occurring.
According to Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, two civilians have died and three others have been wounded in the past day.
According to officials in Ukraine, Russian forces also carried out airstrikes in other parts of the country's south and east.
According to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin, Russian attacks in Kherson province resulted in the deaths of one civilian and the injuries of four others.
In Zaporizhzhia, regional governor Yurii Malashko reported that Russian attacks that targeted 20 settlements in the province resulted in the injuries of one person.
Ukrainian forces had taken control of the village of Piatykhatky on the Zaporizhzhia battlefront, according to Sunday's statement from Vladimir Rogov, an official with the administration in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region that was appointed by Moscow.
A spokesperson for the regional government in the southwestern Odesa province, Serhiy Bratchuk, stated that Ukrainian forces destroyed a "very significant" ammunition depot near the Russian-occupied port city of Henichesk in the neighboring Kherson province.
Bratchuk said in a video message that he posted to his Telegram channel on Sunday morning, "Our armed forces dealt a good blow in the morning."
Ukraine's counteroffensive, which is using Western-supplied advanced weapons in attacks along the 1,000-kilometer front line to dislodge the Kremlin's forces from occupied areas, could last a long time, according to Western analysts and military officials.
In recent days, a group of African leaders went on what they called a "peace mission" to Russia and Ukraine to try to help end their nearly 16-month-old wars. However, the visit ended on Saturday without making any immediate progress.
In the meantime, the governor of Ukraine's northern Sumy region, which borders Russia, Volodymyr Artyukh, claimed that Russian shelling of the village of Bilopilya resulted in the deaths of a father and son.
According to Roman Starovoit, the governor of the Kursk region in Russia, Ukrainian shelling struck three villages across the border.
Late on Saturday, Ukraine's interior ministry reported that 16 people were killed in Ukrainian-held territory as a result of flooding caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, while Russian officials reported 29 deaths in Moscow-controlled areas.
The dam's destruction on June 6 caused massive flooding in towns along the lower Dnieper River in Kherson Province, a warfront region. The breach is allegedly caused by Russia and Ukraine.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner's leader and frequent critic of the Kremlin, stated on Sunday that 32,000 former prisoners had returned home following the termination of their contracts with Wagner in Ukraine. This comes as the deadline for all Russian volunteer formations to sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry approaches, which is widely believed to be targeting Russia's Wagner mercenary group.
As per Prigozhin, 83 wrongdoings were carried out by the individuals who had gotten back, which he guaranteed was "multiple times less" than the number perpetrated by those let out of jail over a similar period without having presented with Wagner.
Recruiting fighters, Prigozhin visited Russian prisons and promised pardons if they made it through Wagner's half-year tour of front-line duty. Prigozhin stated in an interview last month that he had recruited 50,000 inmates, approximately 10,000 of whom were murdered in Bakhmut.
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