Ukraine lost over 1,700 soldiers in 48 hours: Russia MoD

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The Ukrainian armed forces lost some 1,700 soldiers over the past two days during Kiev's attempts to resume counteroffensives in Ukraine's south, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday.

"During the two days of unsuccessful attacks on the Mykolaiv-Kryvyi Rih and other directions, Ukrainian troops lost four combat aircraft — two Su-25s, one Su-24, and one MiG-29. Three Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters were shot down in the air," Moscow's ministry said.

Just two days ago, Russia's military repelled an offensive launched by the Ukrainian armed forces in Mykolaiv and Kherson, which they carried out at the behest of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

#Russian🇷🇺 forces destroy a #Ukrainian🇺🇦 attack-unit 3 Tanks, 1 BMP, 2 Trucks. They hit them from the direction of #Petrivka - all impacts at the eastern side.

📌47.419950, 33.775288#geolocation #ukrainecounteroffensive @200_zoka @RWApodcast @GeromanAThttps://t.co/0wyW4EwQgC pic.twitter.com/Tghorb6M68

— chris__759 (@chris__759) August 30, 2022

"Today, during the day, on the direct orders of Zelenskyy, Ukrainian troops attempted an offensive in Mykolaiv and Kherson regions in three directions," the Russian defense ministry said on Monday.

"As a result of the active defense of the grouping of Russian troops, units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces suffered heavy losses," the ministry added. "Another attempt at offensive actions by the enemy failed miserably." 

Dont know if Herson,but RusVesna claim it is.Anyway bad for Ukranians pic.twitter.com/Th9mJV08WQ

— ZOKA (@200_zoka) August 30, 2022

Today, the ministry revealed that the Russian troops destroyed 63 Ukrainian tanks, 59 infantry fighting vehicles, 48 other armored fighting vehicles, 14 pickup trucks with large-caliber machine guns, and over 1,700 Ukrainian soldiers.

The 57th Motorized Brigade of the Ukrainian ground forces was defeated near the Sukhyi Stavok village, the ministry's statement read.

This comes after Monday's major losses in the region, which amounted to more than 560 troops, 26 tanks, and two attack aircraft.

The region has been undergoing heavy battles for the past month, with Moscow reporting earlier this month that Russian forces neutralized approximately 500 Ukrainian nationalists in the Kherson region by strikes and artillery fire.

All of the Ukrainian losses come despite heavy financing of Kiev from the West, mainly the European Union and the United States. 

This week, Washington stated that it was allocating over $3 billion for long-term aid meant to be sent to Ukraine, increasing the country's total expenditure on weapons to $14 billion knowing that, according to the WSJ report, US President Joe Biden has requested a $773 billion Pentagon budget for the following year.

The Pentagon signed a $182 million contract with Raytheon arms manufacturer for the purchase of NASAMS short-and medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems for Ukraine, the US Defense Department announced on Friday. 

US President Joe Biden last week said the newly instated $2.98 billion military assistance will allow Ukraine to acquire air defense systems, artillery systems and munitions, drones, and other equipment "to ensure it can continue to defend itself over the long term."

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Since the beginning of the war, the United States has donated the equivalent of $13.5 billion to Ukraine in arms and monetary aid.