Holding back powerful offensive: Kyiv

Ukrainian forces are restraining one of Russia’s most powerful offensives since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion on its smaller neighbour, the top commander of Kyiv’s forces said on Saturday.

Russian troops advanced in September at their fastest rate since March 2022, the month after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion, according to open-source data. Ukraine in August took part of Russia’s Kursk region.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding back one of the most powerful Russian offensives from launching a full-scale invasion,” General Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

After failing to capture the capital Kyiv early in the war and win a decisive victory, Putin scaled back his war ambitions to taking the Donbas industrial heartland in Ukraine’s east.