Ukraine makes progress in counter-offensive; Russia captures Western armor

Chiến sự tối 13.6: Ukraine tiến triển trong phản công; Nga thu thiết giáp phương Tây - Ảnh 1. — Ukrainian forces in the Makarivka area of Donetsk region on June 13.

Reuters reported on June 13 that Ukraine continued to advance in the early stages of its counter-offensive, but said Russia was "doing everything" it could to defend the areas it had taken control of.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said the country's troops advanced 250 meters near the city of Bakhmut, 200 meters on the Toretsk front in eastern Ukraine and 500-1,000 meters in the direction of the port city of Berdyansk.

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Ms. Maliar also said that Ukrainian forces controlled an area of up to 3 ^square kilometers, but did not specify when. Earlier on the evening of June 12, this official said that the Ukrainian side advanced 6.5 kilometers and controlled an area of 90 square ^kilometers .

According to Deputy Minister Maliar, the Russian side has air support and is firing high-intensity artillery at Ukrainian soldiers. In addition, the Ukrainian side is facing "continuous minefields combined with anti-tank trenches".

“All this is combined with constant counterattacks by enemy units on armored vehicles and the massive use of ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles) and suicide unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),” she said.

Russia has not officially acknowledged the enemy's progress and said it has repelled Ukrainian attacks, causing heavy losses since Kyiv launched a large-scale counterattack.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on the afternoon of June 13 that the Ukrainian side continued to attack around Bakhmut and the southern Donetsk region. The Russian side repelled three Ukrainian attacks near the village of Makarivka and two attacks near the Rivnopil area in the south of Donetsk.

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Russia posts video of Western armor

TASS news agency reported on June 13 that Russian officials posted footage of Western-made Leopard tanks and Bradley armored vehicles captured by Russian soldiers from Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry posted footage showing Russian soldiers inspecting the vehicles in the Zaporizhzhia region, some of which were still in working condition.

"Some combat vehicles had their engines running, which indicates the temporary nature of the battles," the Russian Defense Ministry said. Ukraine has not commented on the information.

The Leopard 2 tank is considered one of the most modern armored vehicles, but requires high maintenance requirements.

In another development, TASS news agency on June 13 quoted French President Emmanuel Macron predicting that Ukraine's major counterattack would last several weeks or months.

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He expressed hope that Ukraine's counter-offensive would create conditions for future peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

The French leader reiterated his commitment to long-term support for Kyiv and expressed hope that the Ukrainian army's counter-offensive would be successful because "moving to the negotiation phase in favorable conditions" would depend on it.

Russia arrests group of spy suspects

According to Reuters, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on June 13 that it had arrested a group of former defense industry workers suspected of providing sensitive military information to Ukraine and planning to organize sabotage attacks.

The FSB has not named those involved, but accused them of spying for military intelligence and transferring technical documents and models used in the production of weapons systems and equipment of the Russian Air Force.

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The group is also accused of being involved in plans to blow up railway lines in Russia's Kursk and Belgorod regions, which were used to supply forces participating in the campaign in Ukraine.

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