MELITOPOL, September 4. /TASS/. Ukraine’s armed forces have not managed to achieve any noticeable success in the Zaporozhye area nor take over any important population centers over the three months since launching their counteroffensive on June 4, Vladimir Rogov, leader of the We Are Together With Russia movement, told TASS.

"After the three months of the Ukrainian advance, we see that they have been unable to take over any significant population centers, as the zone of their control has not expanded. They still have not taken Rabotino. Yes, they are holed up in the ruins of a school in the middle of the village but it would be a stretch to talk about taking Rabotino under control," Rogov said.

He noted that Ukrainian troops only managed to approach the first line of Russian defense but could not cross it.

On August 30, Zaporozhye Region Acting Governor Yevgeny Balitsky refuted a number of claims that Ukrainian troops had penetrated the Russian armed forces’ first line of defense in the Zaporozhye direction, or taken the village of Rabotino. On August 28, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar claimed that the Ukrainian armed forces had taken Rabotino under their control and continued to advance. Western media outlets then widely quoted this statement.

The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that the Ukrainian armed forces had been making unsuccessful attempts at a counteroffensive since June 4. According to the military agency, over two months, Ukraine has lost more than 43,000 troops and about 5,000 units of various armaments, including 26 aircraft and 25 Leopard tanks. Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that the Ukrainian military had failed to achieve any success at all in any area.