Russian Armed Forces Repel All Attacks in Soledar-Artemovsk Direction - Shoigu

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Units of the Russian armed forces' Southern group have repelled all attacks in the Soledar-Artemovsk (Bakhmut) direction, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.

Russian troops in the special military operation zone significantly weakened Ukrainian military's combat potential and inflicted serious damage on them, the minister said.

"Units of the Southern group repelled all attacks in the Soledar-Bakhmut direction," Shoigu said at a meeting with the leadership of the Russian armed forces.

The Ukrainian armed forces also failed all attempts to break through the defenses of the Russian armed forces in the Verbovoe and Rabotyno areas in the Zaporozhye direction, the minister added.

The General Staff of the Russian armed forces does not plan to launch additional mobilization, there are enough military personnel in the army to conduct the special operation, Shoigu said.

"The General Staff has no plans for additional mobilization. The armed forces have the necessary number of military personnel to conduct the special military operation," Shoigu said at a meeting with the leadership of the Russian armed forces.

More than 335,000 people have joined the Russian armed forces under military contracts and as volunteers since the start of the year, with more than 50,000 people having signed contracts in September alone, Sergei Shoigu said.