MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said Russian forces have bolstered their positions across the entire front line in Ukraine after what he said was the failure of Ukraine's counteroffensive this year. Russia currently controls about 17.5% of Ukrainian territory and a four-month-old Ukrainian counteroffensive this year by Ukrainian forces has made almost no net territorial gains, according to Western analyses of the territory held by Russia. While Ukraine took back territory taken by Russia last year, the Ukrainian army has struggled to penetrate Russian lines which have been bolstered with mine fields and thousands of extra Russian troops. "What is happening now along the entire length of the [line of] contact is called 'an active defence'," Putin said. The conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014 after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine's Maidan Revolution and Russia annexed Crimea, with Russian-backed forces fighting Ukraine's armed forces.

Source: The Star October 15, 2023 08:52 UTC