KYIV/MOSCOW: Russia said on Monday it had thwarted a major offensive against its forces in eastern Ukraine, but Ukrainian officials dismissed the report and both sides said the Ukrainian military had advanced elsewhere along the front line.

It was unclear whether the attacks represented the start of Ukraine’s long-heralded counter-offensive against Russia’s invasion, as Ukrainian officials sidestepped questions about it.

Russia’s defence ministry said Ukraine had attacked on Sunday morning with six mechanised and two tank battalions in southern Donetsk, where Moscow has long suspected Ukraine would seek to drive a wedge through Russian-controlled territory.

“On the morning of June 4, the enemy launched a large-scale offensive in five sectors of the front in the south Donetsk direction,” the defence ministry said in a statement posted on Telegram.

Kyiv refuses to confirm or deny if the attack signalled start of a much-awaited counter-offensive

“The enemy’s goal was to break through our defences in the most vulnerable, in its opinion, sector of the front,” it said. “The enemy did not achieve its tasks, it had no success.”

Asked to comment, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said: “We do not have such information and we do not comment on any kind of fake.”

Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s Security and Defence Council, said:

“The war continues. Until complete victory.”

Bakhmut front

Further north, near the long-contested city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian forces were reported to have been “moving forward” by the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi.

An armed forces video showed Russian positions under fire and Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s private Wagner army, said Ukrainian forces had retaken part of the settlement of Berkh­ivka, north of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, calling it a “disgrace”.

Prigozhin’s private Wagner army captured Bakhmut last month.

Radio stations hacked

Several Russian radio stations were hacked and played a fake President Vladimir Putin speech announcing an invasion from Kyiv’s troops and emergency measures in three regions bordering Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Monday.

A purported radio address by Russian Pre­sident Vladimir Putin was broadcast to three regions bordering Ukraine telling residents Ukrainian forces had crossed the border, mobilisation had begun and they should flee, independent media reported.

“All of these messages are an utter fake,” Russian state-owned news agency RIA cited Kremlin spoke­sman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

Kyiv denies sending any troops into Russia, but pro-Ukrainian forces have repeatedly crossed into one of the regions, Belgorod, in recent days and on Sunday said they had captured some Russian soldiers.

Secrecy

Ukraine has sent mixed messages about the timing of its counter-offensive. Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov posted a video on Sunday showing soldiers putting a finger to their lips and the words “There will be no announcement about the start”.

Russia’s defence ministry released video of what it said showed several Ukrainian armoured vehicles in a field blowing up after being hit.

“There is a tough fight going on,” wrote prominent Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, who writes under the name War Gonzo, saying Ukrainian forces were attacking in the area.

The ministry said Russian forces killed 250 Ukrainian soldiers as well as destroying 16 tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armoured combat vehicles.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2023