Ukraine attacks the front line; Russia says big losses inflicted

Ukraine says it has recaptured about 100 square kilometres (40sq miles) of its territory during the 68th week of Russia’s invasion as a long-planned counterattack gains momentum.

Ukraine says it has recaptured about 100 square kilometres (40sq miles) of its territory during the 68th week of Russia’s invasion as a long-planned counterattack gains momentum.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was suffering “catastrophic” losses and Kyiv’s casualties were 10 times greater than Moscow’s.

“All counteroffensive attempts made so far have failed, but the offensive potential of the troops of the Kyiv regime is still preserved,” said Putin.

The counteroffensive is still in its early days, said Demetries Andrew Grimes, a former commander who spent two years retraining the Ukrainian military from 2015 to 2017.

“All we’re seeing right now is softening of the [Russian] front lines with harassment fire with everything from small arms and rockets to drones and artillery,” Grimes told Al Jazeera.

“The aim of that is to stretch out the opposition to thin their forces… they’re lengthening the conflict zone and forcing the Russians to expose their supply lines so those can be disrupted and [Ukrainian forces] can encircle smaller groups.”