OUR Ukraine Russia has not yet launched a planned counter-offensive to retake territory captured by Russia, and its beginning will be obvious to all when it happens, a senior security official said today.

OUR Alexey DanilovThe secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine refuted claims by Russian officials who said the counterattack had already begun.

“All this is not true. When all this starts, our army will decide,” Danilov said in an interview with Reuters. “When we start a counterattack, everyone will know, they will see.”

Danilov said that Russian officials were mistaken in regarding the advance of the Ukrainian military in places on some sectors of the front as the beginning of a wider operation.

Russian forces, which launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, are fighting Ukrainian troops across wide sections of the front line.

Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Maliar said today that Ukraine has advanced 200-1100 meters in some areas around the destroyed eastern city of Bakhmut in the past 24 hours.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the situation on the battlefields.

Kyiv he hopes that the long-awaited counter-offensive will be the turning point in the war, and he wants to reclaim large swaths of territory captured by Russia.

Danilov also stated that there could be no doubt that yesterday’s destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on the Dnieper River in the southern part of Kherson region was caused by Russia because the area was occupied by Russian invading authorities.

A few months ago, Kyiv reported that the dam had been mined by Russian forces and believes that Moscow blew up the dam in an attempt to prevent Ukrainian forces from crossing the Dnieper and attacking Russian forces. Russia accuses Ukraine of being responsible for the destruction of the dam.

“They (Russia) had a military element. It was the first, it was plan number one,” Danilov said. “They believed that we would move in this direction. Their actions will not lead to the consequences they would like to have.”

Danilov also said that pressure would now be put on Ukraine to agree to peace talks. He reaffirmed the position of Ukraine, according to which there can be no negotiations until the Russian troops leave the territory of Ukraine.

Reuters