Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukrainian forces have launched a long-awaited counter-offensive and suffered “considerable” casualties in their attempts to break through Moscow’s defense lines in Ukraine.
“We can clearly say that the offensive has started, as evidenced by the use of strategic reserves by the Ukrainian army,” Putin told reporters on Friday in Sochi, where he met with the heads of state of the Eurasian Economic Union.
“But the Ukrainian troops have not fulfilled their stated tasks in any combat zone,” he said. “We see that the troops of the Ukrainian regime are suffering significant losses,” Putin said without giving details.
“It is known that the attacking side takes losses of 3 to 1 – it is a kind of classic – but in this case the losses significantly exceed that classic level,” he added.
With virtually no independent reporting from the front lines and Kiev saying little about its military operations, it was impossible to judge Putin’s claims that Ukraine penetrated Russian defenses in its attempt to oust the occupier.
Authorities in Ukraine have denied or refused to confirm whether their counter-offensive has begun, despite military analysts and sources in Ukraine saying the campaign has gradually begun to unfold amid reports of increased fighting in several regions along the front lines with Russian troops in the East. and southeast of the country.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said Friday that a “variety of indicators” suggested Ukraine’s counteroffensive had begun and warned that the early phase of the campaign “may also be the highest Ukrainian losses” as attempts are made to push through the front lines against defending Russian forces.
According to the ISW, Putin’s direct approach to Ukraine’s counter-offensive was an important departure point for the Russian president, who has maintained a “detached approach to discussing the realities on the battlefield”.
The Kremlin has reportedly adopted a new information policy to play the “Russian fight against Western-supplied weapons systems” in Ukraine’s counter-offensive, the ISW said on Saturday.
2/ Russian President Vladimir #Putin acknowledged on June 9 that the Ukrainian #counteroffensive recently began noting that Ukrainian forces still have offensive potential, a departure from previous attempts by the Kremlin to downplay Ukrainian counter-offensives. https://t.co/ilySwoUjWw
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) June 10, 2023
Russian claims that the counteroffensive had been blunted — a point played out by pro-Moscow military bloggers who focused on destroyed and damaged Western military equipment donated to Ukraine — were premature, the ISW said.
“Ukrainian officials directly acknowledged that Ukrainian troops expect to lose equipment during counter-offensive operations,” the ISW said in its latest report. The ISW previously said that the initial phase of Ukraine’s counter-offensive operations will likely be the most costly and difficult in terms of lives lost and equipment destroyed.
“Militaries have long regarded the penetration phase of a mechanized offensive as the most dangerous and costly. The success or failure of this phase may not be apparent for some time,” the ISW said.
In his late night speech on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky again praised the heroism of his armed forces, “for all those who are in particularly hard fighting today”.
“We see your heroism and we are grateful for every minute of your life – a life that is truly the life of Ukraine,” he said.
Earlier on Friday, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Russia was on the defensive in the southeastern region of Zaporizhia, although the epicenter of the fighting remained in the east, particularly in the Donetsk region.
She described “tough battles” in Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka.
Valerii Shershen, a spokesman for the Ukrainian forces in Zaporizhia, told Radio Liberty that the Ukrainian forces were looking for weaknesses in the Russian defenses, which Moscow was trying to strengthen by placing mines, building fortifications and regrouping.
A Ukrainian military success in the Zaporizhia region would enable its troops to break through the land bridge connecting Russia to the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow.
That would be a major turnaround for Russia.
The main element of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, when it unfolds, is expected to include thousands of Ukrainian troops trained and equipped by the West.
In total, Kiev has 12 brigades with a total of 50,000-60,000 troops ready to be deployed in the counteroffensive. Nine of the brigades are armed and trained by the West.
Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said Ukraine’s priority in the early stages of the counter-offensive would be to try to keep the Russians off balance and get tactical surprises through deception and camouflage.
The US Department of Defense also announced an additional $2.1 billion in military aid to Ukraine on Friday.
The latest package includes additional ammunition for Patriot air defense systems, Raytheon HAWK air defense systems and missiles, 105mm and 203mm artillery shells, small hand-launched AeroVironment drones, laser-guided missile system munitions, and training and maintenance support, the defense said. .