Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Friday that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had begun, but it has not been successful.
“It can be stated with absolute certainty that the counteroffensive has begun,” Putin said on the sidelines of a conference in Sochi on Friday, claiming it is “evidenced by the use of strategic reserves.”
“It can be stated that all counteroffensive attempts made so far have failed. But the offensive potential of the Kyiv troops regime still remains,” Putin said in video shared on Telegram from Russian state media.
Putin said “the Ukrainian troops have not achieved the tasks assigned to them in any of the main sectors. This is an absolutely obvious thing,” adding that the last two days have been “very intense.”
Ukrainian forces appear to have stepped up activities along the front line to the southeast of the city of Zaporizhzhia. But it is still too early to get a true picture of what is unfolding and the extent that Ukraine really is attempting a major push forward. Kyiv has been largely mum on a potential counteroffensive, but officials have previously said that it would not be announced.
The Russian leader’s comments are the latest in a series of upbeat Russian characterizations of events along the front line between the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade had suffered heavy losses of personnel and arms in four separate attempts to break through Russian lines. All attempts had failed, he said.
What Ukraine is saying — or not: Ukrainian officials remain tight-lipped about how fighting is progressing. In his address Thursday evening, President Volodymyr Zelensky described “very tough battles.”
“There is a result, and I am grateful to everyone who ensures the result,” he added, though it is quite possible he was referring to fighting around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which is along a very different part of the front line and where Ukrainian forces have made limited gains recently.
Not all Russian reports are positive: Information emerging from the battlefields of the Zaporizhzhia region is not all sunny for the Russians. On Friday morning, Russian pro-Kremlin blogger Semyon Pegov, who blogs under the alias WarGonzo reported that Ukraine’s armed forces had made gains south of Orikhiv toward the town of Tokmak in Russian-held territory. The situation facing Russian forces was very serious, he said.
CNN cannot independently verify claims made by Russian officials or those of well-sourced Russian military bloggers. But a local Ukrainian commander leading troops along the same front line rejected the suggestion Ukraine had begun its big attempt to recapture territory. Instead, the commander characterized the pushes as “reconnaissance in force” – operations designed to probe the enemy’s defenses for weak spots and to test its combat readiness.
