Putin hints of new effort to gain territory in Ukraine after cross-border strikes

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Tuesday that he could order his troops to try to seize more land in Ukraine to protect Russian territory on the border, while asserting that Ukrainian forces had suffered “catastrophic” losses in a new counteroffensive. The Russian leader made some of his most detailed remarks in months about the war in an open meeting with military journalists and bloggers, just as Ukrainian officials claim they have captured a handful of villages in the early stages of a counteroffensive. The meeting, which lasted more than two hours, came after Russian missile strikes in central Ukraine killed at least 11 people overnight.