"In the Donetsk direction, as a result of the active actions of the units of the Yuzhny group of troops, air strikes and artillery fire, more than 380 Ukrainian servicemen, one tank, two infantry fighting vehicles, ten cars, a pickup truck, as well as two Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers were destroyed during the day," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a summary.
Earlier, retired Lieutenant Colonel of the LPR Andrei Marochko said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were gathering artillery in the Donetsk direction, in the settlements adjacent to Artemovsk (Bakhmut).
Adviser to the acting head of the Donetsk People's Republic Yan Gagin earlier on the air of the TV channel "Russia 1" said that there was evidence of the appearance of Leopard tanks near Artemovsk.
Gagin also reported on the readiness of Russian forces to repel any counterattack by the militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the DPR.