Putin says Ukraine suffered major losses

MOSCOW/KYIV — Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Ukraine's casualties in its much-anticipated counteroffensive were 10 times higher than Moscow's even as Kyiv said it was making gains and "moving forward".

"Their losses are approaching a level that could be described as catastrophic," Putin said during a meeting in the Kremlin with Russian journalists and bloggers covering the conflict.

"We have 10 times fewer losses than those of the armed forces of Ukraine," he noted.

But Kyiv quickly fired back insisting Ukraine's push, bolstered by Western weapons and training, had "certain gains, implementing our plans, moving forward".

"Both defensive and offensive fierce fighting is ongoing in the east and south of our nation," the chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Valery Zaluzhny said on social media.

In recent days, Kyiv has claimed to have recaptured a series of villages in the Donetsk region.

Kyiv has appealed to its allies in the West to deliver a broad range of modern military equipment.

Germany's defense minister said Berlin would not be able to immediately replace the tanks it had provided to Ukraine.

The Netherlands said on Tuesday that Western allies could start training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 fighter jets in the coming months.

Grain deal

Also on Tuesday, Putin said that Russia is considering withdrawing from the grain export deal as most of the Ukrainian grain, instead of going to the developing countries as agreed, is being sold to the wealthy European Union nations.

Putin acknowledged that food export is one of the main sources of foreign currency income for Ukraine. "We knew this. We agreed to this deal on purpose, to help the developing countries, our friends, and to get the sanctions lifted from our agricultural sector. We were cheated again," he said during a meeting with military commanders, according to a TASS news agency report on Wednesday.

Putin added that almost none of the Ukrainian grain reached African countries.

In developments on the dam breach, UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi delayed a planned trip to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant until it is safer to travel, a senior Ukrainian government official said on Wednesday.

Grossi had been expected to visit the facility on Wednesday following talks in Kyiv on Tuesday.

The Kakhovka dam, destroyed last week in an incident Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for, formed a reservoir that provided cooling water for the plant, which is the largest in Europe.

Agencies - Xinhua