Moscow says 71 Russian soldiers killed repelling Ukrainian attacks

Russia said on Tuesday dozens of its soldiers were killed when repelling a long-awaited Ukrainian offensive, a rare admission of losses among Moscow's forces.

"For three days, the Ukrainian regime has launched a long-promised offensive in different sectors of the front," Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

"In total, 71 servicemen were killed and 210 were wounded."


On Monday Russia said it repelled a "large-scale offensive" while Ukraine praised successes in and around the eastern city of Bakhmut.

The contrasting claims came amid speculation surrounding the widely-expected counteroffensive from Ukraine.

Kyiv said there would be no announcement of when it would start.

In Tuesday's statement, Shoigu said Ukrainian forces had attempted attacks from five different directions on Sunday, and from seven different directions on Monday.

"The enemy did not achieve its goals, but suffered significant and incomparable losses," Shoigu said.