Russia says it repelled a large-scale Ukrainian attack.

Ukrainian ground forces attempted to breach Russian defenses in eastern Ukraine, in a section of the front that had not shifted significantly in months, and launched large-scale attacks across much of the frontline, Russian authorities and military bloggers who joined at the Kremlin Monday. .

Ukraine has remained silent on military operations after months of preparations for a major counter-offensive in the war. Consequently, Russian reports were expected to signal the start of military action before any formal Ukrainian announcements. The only indication from the Ukrainian side that an operation may have begun was a video released by the military on Sunday showing soldiers putting a finger to their lips and asking for silence.

Two unverified Russian reports said Ukrainian forces had breached Russian defenses in two areas. While the Russian defense ministry said early Monday that a major Ukrainian operation had begun along multiple parts of the front in the Donetsk region, it said the Ukrainian attack had been repelled. Moscow’s reports of the offensive and Ukrainian casualties could not be confirmed. Tass, the Russian news agency, quoted Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov as saying.

There was no immediate response from Ukrainian authorities to the Russian claim.

Early Monday, a Russian Telegram channel covering the war reported that Ukrainian troops had breached a first line of Russian defenses near the town of Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk, retaking two villages as Russian troops fell back to reserve positions.

Following Russian reports that the counter-offensive had begun, independent US military analysts said they believed Ukrainian units had launched an initial assault to determine the position and strength of Russian forces.

The various reports of combat maneuvers at the front were difficult to decipher and it was unclear which operations were part of a main attack and which could be feints or diversions. But attempting to test Russian lines would be a traditional tactic of the sort the Americans trained the Ukrainians to use.

Russian reports of Sunday evening and Monday morning fighting involved movements of larger units, a possible signal that Ukraine had pushed its NATO-trained troops into battle.

Rybar, another Russian Telegram channel, said Ukrainian forces had launched an attack in the Zaporizhzhia region, west of Donetsk, with company-sized units or groups of about 100 soldiers, supported by tanks, and about 200 meters were moved up. It said Russian forces had destroyed two Ukrainian tanks with anti-tank missiles. The claims could not be independently verified.