KUBINKA /Moscow Region/, August 14. /TASS/. The Ukrainian army's counteroffensive is still underway, but it is rapidly running out of steam and there is no talk of a second wave of the counteroffensive, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Acting Head Denis Pushilin told TASS at the Army-2023 forum.
"For now I would not call it [Ukrainian forces’ current activity on the line of engagement - TASS] a second counteroffensive, compared to what we saw in the first wave under the [initial] counteroffensive, which is still underway but is rapidly running out of steam. A few hotspots remain along the front line, but the battle readiness of the Russian Armed Forces is at a completely different level than it was just six months ago, let alone a year ago," Pushilin said, responding to a question about a purported second wave of Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that the Ukrainian armed forces had been making unsuccessful attempts at a counteroffensive since June 4. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on July 11 that Ukraine had lost more than 26,000 troops since the start of the counteroffensive. Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that the Ukrainian military had failed to achieve any success at all in any area.
The Army-2023 International Military-Technical Forum is being held at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center, the Alabino training ground and the Kubinka airfield west of Moscow on August 14-20. About 1,500 leading Russian defense enterprises and 85 foreign companies and businesses from seven countries are participating. The Russian Defense Ministry is the forum’s organizer and TASS is serving as its media partner.