"On June 4, the enemy made an unsuccessful attempt at a large-scale offensive in the South Donetsk direction ... The active actions of the units of the Vostok group of troops, air strikes and artillery fire in ... the Donetsk People's Republic and in ... Zaporozhye region, the enemy suffered significant losses. Up to 300 Ukrainian military, 16 tanks, 26 armored combat vehicles, and 14 vehicles were destroyed in this direction in a day," the ministry said in a statement, adding that Ukraine has "failed to achieve its goals."
In total in the Donetsk direction in the past day Ukraine lost up to 425 military, a German-made self-propelled gun Panzerhaubitze 2000, two howitzers and two ammunition depots, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"In total, during the fighting in this direction, up to 425 Ukrainian servicemen, an infantry fighting vehicle, 14 vehicles, a German-made self-propelled artillery unit Panzerhaubitze 2000 and D-30 howitzers were destroyed during the day. Also, two ammunition depots of the 24th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian military were destroyed in the area of the settlement of Toretsk [also known as Dzerzhinsk] of the Donetsk People's Republic," the ministry said.
The Ministry added that the Russian armed forces and border guards have thwarted a new attempt by Ukrainian military to penetrate the Belgorod region.
Kiev continues attempts to carry out terrorist acts against the civilian population of the border regions of Russia, the ministry said in a statement.
"[On Sunday], units of the armed forces and the border service of the FSB of Russia thwarted an attempt by two groups of Ukrainian terrorists to penetrate the territory of the Belgorod region near the settlement of Novaya Tavolzhanka, Belgorod region. At about 13:00 Moscow time [10:00 GMT], under the cover of intense artillery shelling of civilian targets, the terrorists tried to cross the Seversky Donets River and land on the outskirts of the Novaya Tavolzhanka settlement in the Belgorod Region" the ministry said.
The Ukrainian military were destroyed by air strikes and artillery fire from units covering the state border of the Western Military District, the statement read, adding that over 10 Ukrainian military, two boats, one armored car were destroyed as a result.