Russia’s death toll in Donetsk region in past three days climbs to staggering 3,000

This was reported by the spokesman for the joint press center of the Tavria group of troops, Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun, who spoke on the air of the national telethon, commenting on the latest developments near Avdiivka, Ukrinform saw.

"The attacks (near Avdiivka - ed.) did not stop, but fewer have been launched recently. The enemy forces are regrouping, because they has suffered almost 3,000 casualties in Donetsk region in the past week alone. Therefore, even for Russia, it is quite bothersome and the enemy needs to regroup in order to try to advance. The good news is that the soldiers of the Tavria group of troops saw partial success west of Vervove, where they are gaining a foothold and inflicting losses on the invasion force, while reconnaissance and demining efforts are ongoing. In total, the enemy launched two missile strikes and 10 airstrikes in the Tavria operational zone, where 49 combat engagements were reported," Shtupun said.

He noted that in the Avdiivka direction, the enemy is quite actively employing aviation and trying to advance. In particular, over the past three days, Russian terrorists dropped more than 50 guided aerial bombs in the Avidiivka area.

At the same time, the Defense Forces are holding the defense, the offensive actions of the enemy in the areas of Stepovoye, Avdiyivka, Severny and Nevelsky were unsuccessful, more than 10 enemy attacks were choked, the spokesman noted.

According to Shtupun, some soldiers from the Shtorm-Z assault detachments (which British intelligence earlier reported are most under-equipped and most often sent on assault mission, this perceived as punitive units – ed.) were seen deserting from their battlefield positions.

"More than 20 enemy assaults were successfully repelled in the districts of Marinka and Pobieda, that is, the tension there is not decreasing. In the Shakhtarske and Zaporizhzhia direction, all Russian attacks failed as well, including in the areas of Novomykhailivka, Prychystivka, Staromaiorske, south of Zolota Nyva and southeast of Mala Tokmachka," the spokesman said.

Ukraine’s artillery performed 1,228 fire missions. In the past day, the enemy lost 409 soldiers, while three surrendered.  Also, 27 units of military equipment were destroyed, including three tanks, eight armored fighting vehicles, and seven artillery systems.

Answering a question about the Russians planting their flag on the Avdiivka slagheap, Shtupun said: "Sometimes certain hotheads run there, but now there are only bodies or beaten rags there. But the fighting continues, the situation isn’t easy."

Stupun did not rule out that the enemy will try to launch more attacks toward Avdiivka.

"We are ready for any enemy actions, we are waiting," Shtupun assured.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, referring to the General Staff, from February 24, 2022 to October 25, 2023, Ukraine’s Defense Forces eliminated 296,310 Russian invaders, including 800 in the past day alone. Also, the Ukrainian forces destroyed 5,112 enemy tanks (+7 in the past 24 hours), 9,697 (+28) armored fighting vehicles, 7,125 (+44) artillery systems, 833 (+5) MLR systems, 554 (+2) air defense systems, 320 (+0) warplanes, 324 (+0) helicopters, 5,372 (+9) UAVs, 1,538 (+1) cruise missiles, 20 (+0) warships/cutters, 1 (+0) submarine, 9,474 (+27) military trucks and fuel tankers, and 1,007 (+1) units of specialized equipment.