Ukraine Says Southern Counteroffensive Retook 745 Square Kilometers as Russia Lost 42,860 Troops in July
Updated
Updated · Kyiv Post · Aug 15
Ukraine Says Southern Counteroffensive Retook 745 Square Kilometers as Russia Lost 42,860 Troops in July
3 articles · Updated · Kyiv Post · Aug 15
Summary
745 square kilometers and 26 settlements were retaken along a 60-kilometer southern front, Ukraine said, calling it its biggest territorial gain in more than a year; Zelensky added troops cleared another 300 square kilometers of gray zone.
42,860 Russian troops were killed or seriously wounded in July by Ukraine’s count, alongside a record 13,998 vehicles lost, after Kyiv intensified drone strikes on logistics routes and used small, step-by-step assaults to wear down defenses.
400 military cargo trucks were destroyed in the June drone campaign, Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces said, leaving some Russian units short of fuel, ammunition and reinforcements and helping force troop redeployments from other sectors.
437 civilians were confirmed killed in Russian attacks in July, the UN said — the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians of the war and 30% above June — underscoring the cost of the fighting even as Kyiv reported battlefield gains.
Independent researchers broadly confirmed advances in the southern sector, though not Kyiv’s exact figures, while analysts said Russian commanders were still feeding Moscow false claims of gains in areas where Ukrainian forces were advancing.