RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine loses up to 350 troops in Avdeyevka area in past day

Ukraine lost up to 350 troops in the Avdeyevka area in the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"In the Avdeyevka area, units of Battlegroup Center carried out active operations, moving to more advantageous positions and hitting the troops and equipment of the 59th Motorized Infantry Brigade, the 23rd and 53rd mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed forces near Netailovo, Umanskoye, Ocheretino and Toretsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic. <...> The Ukrainian armed forces lost up to 350 troops, two armored combat vehicles and five motor vehicles," the statement reads.

Russian forces also repelled 12 counterattacks by the 25th Air Assault Brigade, the Third Assault Brigade, the 24th and 75th mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces near Novgorodskoye, Semyonovka, Orlovka, Tonenkoye and Berdychi in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine not involved in Moscow attack, says Kyiv spy-agency spokesman

Ukraine was not involved in Friday's shooting attack near Moscow and suggestions of a Ukrainian link "have nothing in common with reality," a spokesman for Kyiv's military spy agency said on Saturday.

Russia's FSB security service said "all four terrorists" behind the attack at a concert hall near the capital had been arrested while heading to the Ukrainian border, and that they had contacts in Ukraine.

"This is of course another lie from the Russian special services, which has nothing in common with reality and does not stand up against any criticism," Andriy Yusov, of the Defence Ministry's Main Directorate of Intelligence, told Reuters.

He added: "Ukraine was of course not involved in this terror attack. Ukraine is defending its sovereignty from Russian invaders, liberating its own territory and is fighting with the occupiers' army and military targets, not civilians."

His remarks echoed those of presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, who denied any Ukrainian link in comments on Friday evening and again on Saturday. Podolyak wrote on X on Saturday that "any attempts to connect Ukraine to the terrorist attack are absolutely untenable".

Tass/Reuters