Ukraine troops intensify frontline raids in apparent shift in strategy

Speculation mounts over start of long-anticipated counteroffensive by Kyiv

- Julian Borger and Dan Sabbagh

Ukrainian troops went on the attack at multiple points along the frontline in the Donetsk region yesterday, driving back Russian forces in at least two areas in what appeared to be the preliminary stages of Ukraine's long-anticipated counteroffensive.

The government in Kyiv said it had shifted to offensive operations in some sectors, with reports of intense close-quarter fighting in several locations.

Ukrainian officials continued to play down the attacks as "local" actions and rejected Russian defence ministry's claims early yesterday that the counteroffensive had begun and had already been thwarted at high cost to the attackers.

Moscow's boasts of having repelled all the attacks were also undermined by Russian militia leaders and military bloggers who said Ukrainian forces had advanced around the city of Bakhmut in northern Donetsk and the village of Novodonetske in the west of the region.

The offensive operations did not appear to use much if any of the 12-brigade assault force Ukraine has built up in recent months with the help of western training and equipment, suggesting they could be preliminary attacks aimed at probing and stretching Russian defences in advance of a much bigger push.

The attacks signal the approach of a pivotal point in the war.