Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Moscow has reacted "hysterically" to "every step we take" in Donetsk. "The enemy knows that Ukraine will win," he added.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said the military has scored gains, but it's not clear whether these operations are part of a long-awaited major offensive which has been mooted for months.

Ukraine is sending mixed signals about its long-anticipated counteroffensive, but its forces are on the move, and Russians are feeling the war more than ever.

Ukrainian forces were making a major effort to end months of a battlefield stalemate and punch through Russian defensive lines in

Forces in Ukraine have increased artillery strikes and ground movements on Monday that U.S. and Russian officials believe is the long-planned counteroffensive in the 15-month-old war. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that a major Ukrainian operation had begun at five locations in the eastern Donetsk region and that it had repelled the assaults,

Russia's defence ministry said early on Tuesday that it had thwarted another major offensive by Ukrainian forces in Donetsk, inflicting huge personnel losses and destroying eight main battle Leopard tanks as Kyiv forces pressed on.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Moscow has reacted "hysterically" to "every step we take" in Donetsk. "The enemy knows that Ukraine will win," he added.