Fighters from Russia's Wagner Company have captured two new areas in Bakhmout in eastern Ukraine, while Kiev has received fighter jets from Slovakia and provided information on Russian casualties since the war began in February 2022.

Russia said units of the private security firm Wagner, backed by airborne troops, captured two new areas in the northwest and southeast of the city of Pakhmut on Sunday.

Wagner has been leading Russia's attempts to seize control of Pachmuth since last summer, in the longest bloody battle between the two sides.

The Russian Defense Ministry said parachute units of the Russian army were supporting Wagner by repelling Ukrainian forces on various front lines.

For his part, spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, Sergei Chervaty, acknowledged that Wagner's forces carry out dozens of attacks daily.

"The enemy continues to attack our positions with diabolical zeal," Chervaty told the Ukrainian parliament's television channel.


Ukrainian statement

In the same context, the Ukrainian armed forces said on Monday that the death toll of Russian soldiers since the beginning of the Russian war on the country so far has risen to 182,660 soldiers, including 590 soldiers who died on Sunday.

This came according to a statement issued by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on its Facebook page, and reported by the Ukrainian national news agency "Yukrinform".

Ukrainian forces destroyed 3660,7087 tanks, 2804,538 armored combat vehicles, 285,<> artillery systems, <> multi-launch rocket launcher systems and <> air defense systems, the statement said.

The statement added that 308 aircraft, 293 helicopters, 2347,911 drones, 18 cruise missiles, 5672 warships, 328,<> vehicles and fuel tanks and <> special equipment units were also destroyed.

These figures cannot be independently verified.


MiG fighters

In Slovakia, Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad said his country had completed the transfer of all its 13 MiG-19 fighter jets to Ukraine.

"All 13 Soviet MiG-29 fighters have been safely delivered to the Ukrainian Air Force, we are proud that we are on the right side, doing the right thing to help protect lives, we stand by Ukraine," the Ukrainian news agency Yukrinform quoted the minister as saying on Twitter on Monday.

In March, the Slovak government approved the delivery of 13 MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, and the first four were delivered the same month.

Slovakia joined Poland in delivering Russian MiG fighter jets to Kiev to help repel the Russian attack.