President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Saturday that Ukrainian counteroffensive operations were continuing, but remained tight-lipped on details, other than to tell the Kremlin that his generals were in good spirits, Reuters reported.

Zelensky shrugged at a news conference in Kyiv when asked to comment after Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Ukrainian forces had definitely launched their much-vaunted counteroffensive, but that it had so far failed.

“Counteroffensive and defensive operations are being conducted in Ukraine, but I will not say in detail what stage they are at,” he said, naming the top military leadership of Ukraine.

Zelensky’s message to Putin

“Everybody’s in a good mood. Give it to Putin,” he said, smiling along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Ukraine has said for months that it plans to launch a major counteroffensive to retake Russian-held territory in the south and east, but has so far been tight-lipped about its operations and has so far denied that a major operation has begun yet.

Russia claims that Ukraine launched a major offensive this week, but Kyiv’s forces were unable to break through the defense line and also suffered heavy casualties.

With little independent reporting from the front lines, it was difficult to assess the state of the fighting.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Ukraine had carried out significant operations in several parts of the east and south over the past 48 hours, breaching Russian defenses in places.

“In some areas, Ukrainian troops probably made significant progress and penetrated the front line of the Russian defense. In others, the Ukrainian advance was slower,” the report says, characterizing the results of the Russian military as ambiguous.

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