Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine had launched a major offensive against the Russian military, but Ukrainian forces had not achieved their goals despite at least three days of intense fighting, Reuters reported.

“We can say with confidence that this offensive has begun. This is confirmed by the use of strategic reserves of the Ukrainian army,” Putin told Russian journalists in Sochi. “Ukrainian troops did not achieve their goals in any area.”

Putin noted that the last three days of fighting were very intense, but “the enemy did not succeed” in any of the battles.

Ukraine refused to comment on the long-awaited counteroffensive and accused Russia of spreading lies about it. The New York Times quoted three senior US officials as saying the counteroffensive was underway.

For months, Ukraine has been preparing for a counteroffensive that officials in Kyiv and Washington hope will destroy Russian forces.

Ukraine talks about tough battles

However, according to a number of sources in the armed forces of Ukraine, the Ukrainian army launched a long-awaited counteroffensive, and Ukrainian troops intensified their attacks on the southeastern front of the country on Wednesday evening, the Washington Post writes.

Heavy fighting began on Wednesday in the Zaporizhzhia region. From the Russian side, the first footage of a Ukrainian mechanized offensive with Western tanks and armored vehicles appeared, as well as with potential losses at the front.

Images of several types of armored vehicles began to circulate on social media, and OSINT commentators identified Leopard 2A4 and 2A6 tanks, as well as Bradley M2A2 or M113 armored vehicles.

The pictures also show, apparently, victims among Ukrainians, the remains of burning equipment. On the Russian side, commentators also talk about Leopard tanks that would be destroyed during the attacks, but the images in this regard are not clear at all.

• PHOTO. The first shots of Ukraine in the counteroffensive: Leopard tanks and American Bradley armored vehicles at the front / Losses on the battlefield

Ukraine said on Friday that the epicenter of hostilities remained in the east of the country, as clashes in the south renewed speculation that a major counter-offensive had been announced by Kyiv for months, AFP reported.

“The situation remains tense along the entire front line. The epicenter is in the east,” Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Malyar reported in Telegram.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Thursday welcomed what he called the “results” of heavy fighting in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

“There is very heavy fighting going on in the Donetsk region,” Zelenskyy said in a message from the train on Thursday evening after visiting the areas affected by the breach of the Kakhovskaya dam.

“But there are results, and I am grateful to those who achieved these results. Well done in Bakhmut. Step by step,” he said.

Zelenskyi named other areas where fighting is taking place, but said he would not give details. Photos posted on his Telegram account show him meeting some of the country’s top generals at the site.

Follow the latest events of the 371st day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.