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Russia suffered 4,000 casualties in a month of fighting in Kharkiv offensive, Ukraine says

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Russia suffered 4,000 casualties in a month of fighting in Kharkiv offensive, Ukraine says
An aerial view of the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast, on May 20, 2024. (Libkos/Getty Images)

Russian forces suffered around 4,000 troops killed or injured during their offensive in northern Kharkiv Oblast between May 10 and June 10, Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces said on June 14.

Russia launched the new campaign on May 10, but it has effectively bogged down in just about two weeks, with Ukrainian forces counterattacking near the border town of Vovchansk.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces further damaged or destroyed 52 Russian tanks, 59 armored vehicles, 165 artillery systems, six units of air defense equipment, 425 bunkers and shelters, and 37 ammunition warehouses in a month of fighting, the statement read.

The losses do not include casualties Russian forces suffered in the Kupiansk sector in Kharkiv Oblast's northeast.

European Pravda reported on June 13 that according to its undisclosed NATO source, Russian losses in the offensive have been "astronomical."

The source estimated that "Russia likely suffered losses of almost 1,000 people a day in May," potentially indicating even higher numbers than those presented by the Khortytsia group.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published on May 25 that Russia's losses during the offensive were eight times higher than those suffered by Ukraine's Armed Forces.

The figures could not be independently verified.

Russia’s move on Kharkiv has bogged down. But was it a failure?
In the first half of May, Russia opened a new front to its war against Ukraine in dramatic fashion. The two-pronged offensive on Kharkiv Oblast unfolded on the back of some of the most difficult months for Ukrainian forces, overstretched and depleted after a brutal winter and early spring campaign
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Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

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