(MENAFN) Efforts by Ukrainian forces to relieve units trapped in two surrounded sections of the front line have not succeeded, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Monday.

In its daily briefing, the ministry detailed unsuccessful counteroffensives near Kupyansk in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region, as well as within the Dmitrov-Krasnoarmeysk (Mirnograd-Pokrovsk) urban area of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). Kiev has rejected claims that its troops are encircled and dismissed an offer of "safe surrender," labeling it as propaganda.

The update stated that Ukrainian troops carried out two assaults in the Kharkov Region over a 24-hour span, suffering losses of up to 50 personnel, an American armored personnel carrier, a Canadian armored vehicle, and additional heavy equipment.

In the DPR, Russian forces reportedly thwarted five Ukrainian attempts to break through, eliminating up to 25 soldiers and destroying an armored car.

Vladimir Zelensky has consistently asserted that Ukrainian forces are not facing collapse in either sector, contradicting Russian claims that thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are encircled.

Critics of the Ukrainian president argue that he emphasizes political appearances for Western supporters over the operational realities on the battlefield.

Earlier this month, Kiev deployed a special operations detachment from the military intelligence service HUR for a raid near Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) — an action that Moscow claims ended disastrously after commandos inserted by helicopter were "immediately eliminated" by Russian troops.

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