Ukraine Reports of Russian Combat Losses in Donbas as New Offensive Begins

The Armed Forces of Ukraine said invading Russian forces lost 12 tanks, one artillery installation and 28 units of armored vehicles in the two easternmost regions of Donetsk and Luhansk on April 19.

One Russian Su-34 fighter-strike aircraft was downed as was a Ka-52 Alligator assault helicopter, the Ukrainian military reported on Facebook.

The estimated Russian losses came on the first day that President Volodymyr Zelensky said was the invading country’s “battle for Donbas,” in reference to the eastern territories that Russia had first invaded in 2014.

Since Kremlin tyrant Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion against the neighboring country on Feb. 24, Russia hasn’t provided details of its casualties.

Last week, Zelensky told CNN that up to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the latest phase of the war and the military estimates Russia’s losses to above 20,000 servicemen.

Speaking to India Today on April 19, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov also said that the “latest” phase of the war has started with efforts to seize the remaining parts of the Donbas under Kyiv’s control.

Russia abandoned it’s full-scale invasion on April 1 by retreating from the northern regions in Kyiv, Sumy and Chernihiv after being outsmarted and outfought by staunch Ukrainian resistance.