In a short interview, released by the Rossiya 1 channel on Sunday, Putin was asked to comment on recent statements by some Ukrainian officials, who acknowledged that their operation was stalling and failing to meet Kyiv’s schedule.
“As for the counteroffensive that is allegedly stalling – it has failed completely,” the Russian leader replied.
Moscow is aware that Kyiv is “still preparing new active offensive operations. We see that. We know that. And we're reacting to that appropriately,” he stressed.
“As for what's happening now along the whole length of the contact line, it’s called active defense and our [Russian] forces are improving their positions almost everywhere in this area,” Putin said, according to RT.
The Russian military is making gains near the city of Kupyansk in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Region, as well as Russia’s Zaporizhzhia Region, the Avdeevka area in the Donetsk People’s Republic, and other locations, he added.
“I want to thank the Armed Forces, the military leadership and, first of all, our fighters on the frontline for their courage,” the president said.
On Thursday, Kirill Budanov, the head of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate, told the Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper that Kyiv’s forces were not only behind schedule in the counteroffensive, but had completely “fallen out of it” after several things did not go as “smoothly” as the Ukrainian authorities had hoped.
When asked to comment on Budanov’s assessment by Ukraine’s Channel 24, Mikhail Podoliak, a senior adviser to President Vladimir Zelensky, said the counteroffensive was “six to nine months behind schedule.” Podoliak blamed Kyiv’s Western backers, who, according to him, were too slow in providing Ukraine with the needed weapons.
Ukraine launched its much-touted counteroffensive attempt early in June and quickly ran up against solid Russian defenses and minefields. According to the latest data, the Kyiv regime lost over 90,000 troops, 557 tanks and almost 1,900 armored vehicles
MNA/PR
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