Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has begun, although it has failed to achieve its goals.
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According to the president at a press conference, the deployment of strategic reserves by Ukraine confirms the operation. "As for whether the [counteroffensive] has stalled or not, we can state that all attempts of counteroffensive carried out so far have failed."
Putin said that "in no combat zone have Ukrainian troops succeeded in their task." In this regard, he said that "the offensive potential of the Kiev regime's troops still exists."
The Russian president noted that over the past five days there has been heavy fighting with numerous casualties being recorded on the Ukrainian side, exceeding the "classical" indicator, when casualties in offensive operations "are 3 to 1."
Putin acknowledged that Russian troops are managing to hold their positions and praised the Russian army and weaponry in the actions against the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
The president said that Russian troops are facing shortages of modern weaponry. He expressed hope that Moscow's military industry will soon be able to meet the growing demand, taking into account that "there is an intensive increase in the production of modern types of weapons."
On this occasion, Putin said that the current tragedy in Ukraine "is due to the events that took place in previous years, and the responsibility for them lies entirely with the regime in Kiev, whose main source of power lies in the coup d'état."