Putin says fighting in Ukraine intensifies

Hostilities in the Zaporozhye region have become more intense, and the Ukrainian army suffered heavy losses. Russia is suffering losses too, "but the difference is colossal," Putin said. 

In Ukraine, hostilities have intensified "in a significant way" with main events taking place in the Zaporozhye direction, President Vladimir Putin told TV presenter Pavel Zarubin.

On July 26, intense fighting took place in the area of responsibility of the 810th Marine Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet and the 71st Regiment of the 42nd Division of the 58th Army of the Southern Military District, Putin said. According to him, Russian servicemen demonstrated "best examples of mass heroism."

“The enemy used a large number of armoured vehicles, up to 50 pieces. Of these, 39 pieces of equipment, including 26 tanks and 13 armoured vehicles, were destroyed,” Putin said.

The military, who distinguished themselves in the obliteration of Ukrainian armoured vehicles, will be awarded; their units will be given honorary titles. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have not had success in any sector of the front, Putin continued adding that over the past 24 hours, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost more than 200 people.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t do without losses either, but the difference is colossal – enemy losses are [more than] ten times higher than ours,” Putin said.

The Ukrainian army has proceeded to the main phase of the offensive, Pentagon officials told The New York Times. According to them, the Armed Forces of Ukraine started using thousands of military personnel of the reserve force. Kyiv estimated the duration of the new phase of the offensive at three weeks, if it goes successful. However, other sources of the publication did not rule out that Kyiv may either get ready for the main attack or simply reinforce the fighting units.

Washington believes that Ukraine's offensive will last for several months.

Kyiv earlier acknowledged that the process was moving slower than desired.

“Some people take it like a Hollywood movie and are waiting for results right now. This is wrong. People's lives are at stake,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

In mid-July, he promised that the offensive was about to speed up.