Ukraine forced ‘on the defensive’ as Putin boasts about his ‘heroic troops’
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Ukraine was forced to go “on the defensive” on Sunday to fend off a fierce cycle of attacks as Vladimir Putin boasted that Kyiv’s counter-offensive has failed.
Ukraine was forced to go “on the defensive” on Sunday to fend off a fierce cycle of attacks as Vladimir Putin boasted that Kyiv’s counter-offensive has failed.
“All attempts by the enemy to break through our defences have been unsuccessful during the entire offensive,” said Putin.
Ukrainian commanders have admitted that their counter-offensive has progressed slowly but they have still estimated that they have recaptured around 65 square miles of land in two months.
In his interview with Russian state TV, though, Putin ignored these estimated gains.
“Putin’s system continues to operate on wishful thinking in terms of reports that go to the offices of Putin,” said Alex Kokcharev, a Russia analyst at S&P Market Intelligence.
The tough fighting was also highlighted by Hanna Malyar, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister. She said Ukrainian forces around the city of Kupiansk in the northern sector were on the defensive against Russian forces.
“Fierce battles are going on, and positions of the sides change dramatically several times a day,” she said. “There is a daily advance on the southern flank around Bakhmut.
Fighting has also been reported in occupied Crimea where Russian forces said that seven arial and two underwater drones had attacked the port of Sevastopol, the main base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
In Belarus, hundreds of rebellious Wagner mercenaries have now arrived as part of a peace deal that ended their mutiny. Poland’s intelligence services have said that they are monitoring them.
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