Both Russia and Ukraine claim to have inflicted heavy damage on the other side. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine has not yet broken through the Russian line of defense anywhere. Ukraine, which initially provided little information about the counterattack, now reports daily successes on the battlefield.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said only on Saturday that the offensive had begun, but experts say Kiev has been attacking for some time. The capture of the three villages in Donetsk is the first success reported by Zelensky since Saturday.

In the past week, the Ukrainian military has also made some progress. On Saturday, Britain’s Ministry of Defense stated that Ukraine had “broken through Russia’s first line of defence”. Russia responded, according to the British, “with varying degrees of success.”