MOSCOW, June 13 (Aljazeera) - Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested he could order his troops to try to seize more land in Ukraine to protect Russian territory on the border, while asserting Ukrainian forces have suffered “catastrophic” losses in a new counteroffensive.

The Russian leader made some of his most detailed remarks in months on Tuesday 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 its counterstrike.

He asserted Ukraine lost 160 tanks and more than 360 other armoured vehicles in recent days of heavy fighting, while Russia only lost 54 tanks since Kyiv began the new assault. Those claims could not be immediately verified.

Referring to Ukrainian incursions and shelling of Russia’s Belgorod and other border regions, Putin said his military would take moves to stop such attacks, and if Kyiv persists, “We will have to consider creating a sanitary zone in Ukraine to prevent it from striking our territory.”

In recent weeks, Russia’s border areas have come under increasing attack, with the Kremlin blaming Ukrainian forces for raids and drone attacks. Local leaders in Russia have pleaded with the Kremlin to do more to protect their residents, some of whom have been evacuated to safer areas.

Putin said there is no need for an additional mobilisation of men to fight in Ukraine for now, but said any further troop call-ups would depend on what Russia wanted to achieve there. “There is no such need today.”

Discussing Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, which Russian troops failed to take in the early stages of the war, Putin asked, “Should we return there? Why am I asking such a rhetorical question? It is clear there is simply no answer to this – I can only answer it myself.”

Ukraine’s large-scale counteroffensive began on June 4 and has not been successful in any area, Putin said. He said Ukraine was suffering massive losses and Kyiv’s casualties were 10 times greater than Moscow’s.

His assessment came hours after Russia claimed it captured Western armoured vehicles from Kyiv’s forces on the battlefield and following deadly Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown.

Zelenskyy on Tuesday hailed advances by Ukraine’s troops near the long-besieged city of Bakhmut in the east and on the war’s southern front.

“Thanks to everyone who is now fighting, who protects and advances our positions,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “For example, the Bakhmut sector … there is forward movement in various areas.”

He also praised units on the southern front, saying in “conditions of aviation and artillery superiority of the occupiers, there is movement forward. Thank you soldiers! Thank you for every step and every metre freed from Russian evil.”

The head of Ukraine’s ground troops, Oleksandr Syrskyi, wrote on Telegram that Russian forces are “losing positions on the flanks”.

It was not possible to independently verify the assertions.