Russia announces Ukrainian military casualties in 24 hours.

In the context of both Russian and Western media reports that Ukraine has started a counter-offensive since this week, the Russian Defense Ministry today updated the latest Ukrainian casualties and damage.

In a daily update of the military situation on June 9, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that more than 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 39 tanks destroyed in the past 24 hours.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, 30 infantry fighting vehicles, 38 armored vehicles, dozens of cannons, and other military equipment in Kyiv were also destroyed.

Russia's daily military situation update adds that two Ukrainian military planes, two British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles, and 13 Kyiv drones were intercepted and disabled in the last 24 hours.

Ukraine has not commented on the military situation update on June 9 from the Russian Defense Ministry.

Both Russian and Western media reported that Kyiv began a large-scale counterattack this week, trying to take advantage of the arsenal provided by the US and its European allies. However, Ukrainian officials have made conflicting statements about whether a counter-offensive has begun.

Ukraine's supporters expect Kyiv to gain a significant advantage by using the main battle tanks provided by the West. 

However, the Russian military claims to have repelled a series of attacks by Ukraine in the past week and argues that Kyiv is paying a heavy price for probing Russian defenses in various areas of the front line.

According to Russia's RT station, the West is committed to supporting Ukraine because it causes Moscow to receive a "strategic defeat." But the media reports that the future scale of Western military support depends on whether the Ukrainian army can succeed on the battlefield.