Russia claims Ukraine suffered loss of over 23,000 troops since war started on Feb 24

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War, the Ministry of Defence in Moscow claimed on Saturday that war-torn Ukraine has lost approximately 23,367 personnel since Russia commenced its aggression against the nation on February 24. According to the Russian state-controlled television network RT, Major General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for the Defence Ministry, has provided the fatality estimates, by saying that Ukraine had lost over 4,000 combatants in Mariupol alone, including "foreign mercenaries" as well as "Nazis" linked to the renowned Azov and Aidar units. 

Furthermore, the general, in a statement, blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of concealing the exact number of his country's casualties. He even added that the president "is afraid" to inform the people of Ukraine about how many soldiers had died in the conflict, RT reported.  

However, Ukraine has claimed that it has lost its troops from between 2,500 and 3,000 across the country. In an interview with CNN on Friday, Zelensky stated that the Russian military had suffered up to 20,000 casualties. Moscow strongly refutes Zelensky's assertions. 

Russian forces have taken down a Ukrainian military cargo jet

Apart from this, according to a statement released by the Russian Ministry of Defence on Saturday, the Russian forces have taken down a Ukrainian military cargo jet transporting military supplies from Western nations. The statement reads, "A Ukrainian military transport aircraft was shot down in the air" in the Odessa area while "delivering a large batch of weapons supplied to Ukraine by Western countries," CNN reported.  

Further, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian soldiers have been removed from the major urban areas of the vital port city, Mariupol and a "surrender" order has been given for the final tiny unit cooped up in the Azovstal metallurgical facility. 

Kyiv conducted a targeted strike on Russian artillery

Meanwhile, On Saturday, Kyiv conducted a targeted strike in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, on Russian artillery. The attacks were conducted by Ukraine's 59th Motorised Infantry Brigade against a Russian artillery installation in the west-central city of Ukraine, according to visuals obtained by Republic TV. Exclusive footage obtained by Republic Media clearly demonstrated that Ukrainian soldiers had maintained a strong deterrent to invading forces. 

The film showed the aggressive bombardment on Russian artillery in Vinnytsia by Ukrainian ground troops named after Yakov Granziuk (a Ukrainian figure from the First Liberation War and the commander of the UPR Army Brigade). The video depicts a sequence of breaking blitzes, which are thought to be the result of continuous rifle and ammo shooting. As the shelling becomes more intense, a vehicle eventually ignites into a massive blaze, with dense smoke pouring from the wreckage. The footage also showed what appeared to be Ukrainian soldiers moving forward, eventually pushing Russian forces back. 

(Image: AP)