Russia says Ukrainian counteroffensive has started and Kyiv is silent

The fighting intensified on Monday in the Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions, but it was not the start of the expected Ukrainian counterattack, the Kyiv government said after Russia claimed to have repulsed a major offensive in the east of the country. And it is that Ukraine continues without giving any clear clue about the start of that counteroffensive that it has been announcing for months. In a cryptic message on Twitter, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov cited Depeche Mode’s well-known song Enjoy the Silence.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Monday that her counteroffensive has not yet started. If Russia says otherwise it is only to divert attention from the losses it suffers at Bakhmut, she stressed.

Russia announced that it had repelled a major Ukrainian offensive at five points on the Donetsk front, killing 250 enemy soldiers. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine had attacked on Sunday morning with six mechanized and two tank battalions south of Donetsk, where Moscow has long suspected Ukraine would seek to drive a wedge into Russian-held territory. “The enemy did not achieve its tasks, it was not successful,” he said.

He also released a video showing several Ukrainian armored vehicles flying through the air after being hit. According to Moscow, his forces also destroyed 16 tanks, three infantry vehicles and 21 armored vehicles.

Several Russian military bloggers claim that one of the points attacked by the Ukrainian troops was Velika Novosilka, where they would have managed to open a breach. “A tough fight is being waged (…) This time the news is much more worrying,” wrote Semion Pégov, author of the War Gonzo blog.

On Telegram, Hanna Maliar explained that the Ukrainian forces were “moving to offensive actions” in some areas of the front. But she denied that it was a major operation. “Why are the Russians actively publishing information about a counteroffensive? Because they need to divert attention from the defeat in the Bakhmut area, ”she wrote.

This city in the Donetsk province, which the Russians call Artiomovsk, was taken in May by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group after eight months of fighting in what has been the bloodiest and longest battle of this conflict. However, Ukraine has continued to attack areas to the north and south.

The creator and owner of Wagner, Yevgueni Prigozhin, said Monday in a video broadcast by Telegram that the Ukrainians have recovered part of Berjivka, a nearby town, which he described as “a disgrace.” This oligarch, close to the Kremlin but at odds with the Russian military leadership, took the opportunity to criticize the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, whom he urged to go to the front to personally lead the battle. “Come on, you can do it! And if you can’t, you will die as heroes.” After seizing the city, the Wagners ceded their positions to the regular Russian army.

According to Hanna Maliar, Bakhmut is still the “epicenter” of the fighting today.

On the other hand, the deputy head of the Russian administration in Zaporizhia, Vladimir Rogov, reported that the Ukrainian attacks are also intensifying in that region of southern Ukraine, partially controlled by Moscow. Ukrainian troops began to attack on Sunday in the Vremevski area, but in the early hours of this Monday the actions resumed “in a more active, more organized way.” A day before, he assured: “The situation is alarming, but it is controlled.”

In recent months, Kyiv has announced a counteroffensive, which always seemed imminent, to expel Russian forces from the territory they have occupied since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his army to intervene militarily in Ukraine in February 2022.

In an interview published Sunday in The Wall Street Journal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said preparations for the counteroffensive had been completed.

But Kyiv is silent. His defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, reproduced on Twitter several verses of the Depeche Mode song Enjoy the Silence: “Words are very unnecessary, they can only do harm.” He also posted a video of soldiers looking at the camera and putting a finger to their lips, with the caption: “No start will be announced.” The secret is kept.