Ukraine's 'Biggest Blow' Yet To Come, Kyiv Says As Counter Grinds On

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar has acknowledged the "very tough" challenge facing Kyiv's troops trying to break Russian lines at multiple points along the 800-mile front, as Ukrainian units continue making small gains in the opening stages of their long-awaited counteroffensive.

Maliar—who has been Kyiv's main source of counteroffensive updates since the operation launched earlier this month—wrote on Telegram on Monday night that Russian forces occupying territory in southern and eastern Ukraine will not collapse without a fight.

"It is quite difficult for our defenders to advance because the enemy threw all their forces to stop the offensive," Maliar wrote.

The deputy defense minister has previously said that Moscow is redeploying its most combat-capable units from the flooded Kherson front to meet Kyiv's offensive, which has so far focused on the eastern Donetsk and southern Zaporizhzhia fronts.

"The enemy will not give up positions easily and we must prepare for the fact that it will be a tough duel," Maliar added, noting this is "exactly what is happening now."

"The ongoing operation has several tasks and the military is carrying out these tasks," Maliar wrote. "They move as they were supposed to move. And the biggest blow is yet to come."

Ukraine has claimed to have liberated eight settlements and 43 square miles of territory, advancing more than four miles with gains centered around the devastated Donetsk city of Bakhmut in the east, and Zaporizhzhia in the south. These initial attacks appear to be probing operations searching for Russian weak spots ahead of a more concentrated push.

Maliar said earlier this week that Russia had lost 4,600 troops and 400 pieces of equipment; including tanks, helicopters, and howitzers. For their part, President Vladimir Putin and his commanders have repeatedly claimed to have defeated Ukraine's offensives, inflicting severe casualties on Kyiv's units in the process.

Newsweek cannot independently verify battlefield losses, and has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry to request comment.

Maliar said on Monday night: "It is not necessary to measure the result of the work of the defense forces exclusively by settlements and kilometers traveled." She said: "There are many more criteria for the effectiveness of military operations."

Reports suggest that Russian forces have gone on the offensive in eastern Luhansk Oblast, seeking to seize back momentum from attacking Ukrainian units elsewhere along the line. "Russian forces made gains in the Kupyansk area and continued ground attacks along the Svatove-Kreminna line," the Institute for the Study of War's Monday evening update read.

Maliar acknowledged renewed Russian attacks. "Despite the fact that our troops are advancing in several directions of the south, the enemy is concentrating a lot of his efforts in the east and continues to advance there," she wrote on Telegram.

"Because for the enemy, the main direction of attack is there, because the aggressor does not abandon the goal of reaching the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. So, now it is hot both in the east and in the south."