Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Ukrainian troops have launched a counteroffensive and were suffering "considerable losses."
Speaking to reporters in Sochi on Friday evening, Putin said: "First, we can safely state that the offensive has begun. We know this from the fact that the Ukrainian army tapped its strategic reserves. This is my first point.
"Second, the Ukrainian troops failed to achieve their goals in all combat sectors, which is clear as day."
The intensive fighting has been taking place for five days but the Ukrainian troops were "not successful in any area of operations," he said.
Putin admitted that the Russian army suffers from a shortage of modern weapons, adding that the defense industry is trying to catch up with the military needs.
"Over these days, we have seen the Ukrainian regime suffer significant causalities. As is known, losses routinely amount to about three to one during offensive operations. But in this case, they are much higher. I am not going to give these figures, but they are striking," the Russian president claimed.
Despite heavy losses, the attempts to breach the defense of Russia's position continue, Putin said, adding that he "cannot say that the offensive has got bogged down."
"All I can say is that the counteroffensive attempts that have been made so far failed. But the offensive potential of Kyiv's regime is still there," he said.
Putin said he expected from Russia's military leadership to be realistic in assessments of the situation and proceed from these realities to plan up actions in the short term.
