Politico reports:

Ukraine dismissed claims that Russia has repelled its counteroffensive on Monday, insisting that its long-awaited assault has not yet begun.

The Russian defense ministry on Monday reported that Kyiv’s forces had attempted to storm several Russian positions in parts of the southern Donetsk front on Sunday. According to Moscow, Russia repelled what it called Ukraine’s counteroffensive, pushing Kyiv’s troops back to their original positions on Monday and imposing significant losses in manpower and equipment.

Kyiv, meanwhile, dismissed the report as untrue. “Moscow is already actively involved in repelling … a global offensive that ‘does not yet exist,’” tweeted Mykhailo Podolyak, the adviser to the head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukrainian military officials declined to officially comment on what they called “Russian disinformation,” saying they did not want to legitimize it. A press officer for one of Ukraine’s mechanized brigades told POLITICO that in the coming weeks, Kyiv’s armed forces would be sticking to a “no-comments” policy when it comes to revealing details about the counteroffensive. [Continue reading…]