Ukraine’s counteroffensive unsuccessful: Russian President Putin

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday claimed that Ukraine's counteroffensive against Moscow’s forces to reclaim its territories was failing.

A day earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a strict warning to his countrymen, highlighting Moscow’s concentrated efforts to halt Kyiv's troops in their counteroffensive.

Kyiv began its highly anticipated fightback after stockpiling Western weapons and building up its offensive forces last month, AFP reported. 

In a televised interview broadcast today, Putin said: "All enemy attempts to break through our defences... they have not succeeded since the offensive began. The enemy is not successful."

Ukraine on Friday conceded difficult battles.

"Today it's advancing not so quickly," the head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andriy Yermak, told reporters.

Kyiv said Friday its troops had advanced nearly two kilometres along the southern front over the past week.

Mykola Urshalovych, a senior representative of the National Guard, told reporters that troops had moved towards the occupied southern city of Melitopol during the ongoing offensive.

On Sunday, the army said it was pursuing offensive operations toward Melitopol and Berdyansk.

The Ukrainian president said last week that the slow delivery of promised arms was delaying Kyiv's counteroffensive, and called on the United States and other allies to provide long-range weapons and artillery.