Ukraine 'shifting towards offensive actions' against Russia

Ukrainian forces are "shifting to offensive actions" in some areas, the country's Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar has said.

Military sources told the BBC that a series of small scale armoured offensive operations are under way.

They did not say whether this was the start of Ukraine's long-awaited full-scale counter-offensive.

Russia says it thwarted major Ukrainian offensive and claims it killed 300 troops and destroyed 16 tanks.