Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been a failure, with its army suffering major losses.  

President Putin said Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive to push back Russian forces has “failed” as he hosted his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko for talks in St. Petersburg on Sunday. 

In reply to Lukashenko’s remarks that “there is no counteroffensive”, Putin said, “It exists, but it has failed.” 

Putin, who ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine last February, claimed Ukrainian losses since the start of the counteroffensive last month exceeded 26,000.

For his part, Lukashenko said more than 15 Leopard and over 20 Bradley tanks were destroyed over the past 24 hours. 

Regarding foreign mercenaries fighting on Ukraine’s side, Putin said they have been taking heavy losses because of their “tactics” and “foolishness.”  

According to the Russian military, nearly 5,000 foreign mercenaries had been killed in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s military operation, with over 4,900 fleeing the fighting zone and leaving Ukraine. 

Putin also said the two leaders would discuss security and other issues “in great detail and in depth.”

The longtime leaders met for the first time since Lukashenko helped end a mutiny by Russian Wagner mercenaries in Russia last month, in the biggest threat to Putin’s more than two-decade rule.

Alexander Lukashenko said he is “keeping” Russian Wagner mercenaries in central Belarus to prevent the notorious fighters on its territory from going “westwards” towards Poland.

Polish plans for Western Ukraine 

While Poland has already become actively involved in the Ukrainian conflict by providing Kiev with military hardware, recent reports indicate that Warsaw could take its efforts up a notch.

Lukashenko accused Poland of trying to “rip off a western chunk” of Ukraine, saying the transfer of Western Ukraine to Poland would be an unacceptable scenario for Minsk and pledged to help the region if it asks for assistance.

Meanwhile, Warsaw has said it would strengthen its eastern border after Wagner fighters arrived in Belarus.

Speaking with members of Russia’s Security Council on Friday, President Putin has also warned that the Polish leadership may be planning to send troops to Ukraine in the near future.

He said Warsaw likely hopes to form a coalition “under NATO’s umbrella” to directly intervene in the Ukrainian conflict in order to seize the territories of modern-day West Ukraine. 

During the meeting, Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), also said that Warsaw was considering capturing western territories of Ukraine by deploying its own troops to the region as part of a Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian security initiative. 

In this regard, Putin instructed the Russian foreign intelligence head to monitor Poland’s plans for Ukraine.