months and remains in its hands. it s of huge importance to both sides and it s important for ukraine now that it s launched the counter offense that it succeed. we ve been learning that the united states has been helping ukraine specifically to arm it for this particular counteroffensive. we know russian president vladimir putin sees things a little bit differently. thank you. let s go to moscow and hear the other side of this war. fred pleitgen is there. the russians are saying that the ukrainians are failing. they acknowledge that a counteroffensive is going on. it took the russians a long time to actually acknowledge that their forces were under pressure, but they re saying that their forces are holding up and that made big casualties on the ukrainians as well. in fact, the russian defense ministry came out earlier today
will be able to push russia back, but ultimately they have to get russia out of the country completely in order for them to have a victory. all russia needs to do is to keep it grinding on, alex. and it is grinding on. sam kylie in kyiv, thanks for that tonight. let s go to moscow and senior correspondent frederik pleitgen. from russia s perspective at the six-month mark, do they think things are going to plan in ukraine? what s the feeling among russians? the russian government, alex, are trying to say that everything is going to plan although it appears that the goalposts seems to have been shifting and one of the things that in the beginning the russians thought that it could be over in a couple of days and now we re six months on and it s been interesting. i ve been watching russia state tv and it s been reference to the fact that it s been going on for a very long time very often and it s not something that they
boris bondarev posted the statement online, saying the war was a crime not only against ukraine s people, but also perhaps against russians too. he accused the foreign ministry in moscow of fostering warmongering, lies and hatred rather than diplomacy. let s go to moscow and join our moscow editor steve rosenberg. really incredible criticisms here with very outspoken language. he with very outspoken language. hie: does not with very outspoken language. hie does not mince his words. this is rare because in the three months since vladimir putin lost what he is still calling a special military operation in ukraine, there have been very few signs of open dissent and russian state institutions. but today this diplomat and the russian mission to the un in geneva comes out and only does he resign but he basically storms out of the foreign ministry with this scathing attack on the kremlin. he said russia possibly