Moscow: In contrast to earlier claims from Kiev's forces that they had retaken the settlements, Russia said on Monday that it had repelled Ukrainian attacks near several villages in the war-torn southeast of the nation.

The conflicting reports from Moscow and Kyiv come as analysts claim that Ukraine has begun a long-awaited counteroffensive with Western weapons in an effort to reclaim territory that Russian forces have taken over.

The eastern Donetsk region town of Velyka Novosilka is where Kyiv has claimed victory, according to the Russian defence ministry, which reported on Monday that Russian forces had repelled three Ukrainian assaults there.

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In a statement, it claimed that the Vostok grouping's heavy flamethrower systems and artillery fire had taken decisive action to repel three enemy attacks.

The Russian military has repelled Ukrainian assaults just west of Velyka Novosilka, near the village of Levadne in the neighbouring southern region of Zaporizhzhia, according to the defence ministry.

In recent days, Ukraine has claimed to have made further advancements into Russian-controlled territory near Velyka Novosilka, boasting of the weekend capture of three villages.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, announced on Saturday that a counteroffensive against Russian forces had started, confirming anticipations that had been building for months.

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Neskuchne, Blagodatne, and Makarivka were the three villages outside of Velyka Novosilka that Kyiv asserted to have taken on Sunday.

Ukrainian forces claimed to have captured Novodarivka, a village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region near the border with Russia, earlier on Monday, according to the defence ministry of Ukraine.

Although the various assertions made by Moscow and Kyiv could not be independently verified, analysts have stated that it is likely that Ukraine has made recent advancements close to Velyka Novosilka.

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"Ukrainian forces made visually verified advances in western Donetsk Oblast and western Zaporizhia Oblast, which Russian sources confirmed but sought to downplay," the US-based Institute for the Study of War wrote in a research note on Monday.