Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly given Defense Minister Shoigu until early next month to stop a Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.

Citing an insider Telegram channel, Kremlin Secrets, ISW reports that Putin has reportedly given Sergei Shoigu until early October to "improve the situation on the fronts, stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive and Russian forces to regain the initiative for an offensive operation." . that is, conquering one of the big cities, such as Kherson, Odessa, Kharkiv or Dnipro.

In the message of the Telegram channel, it is stated that Shoigu agreed to all these demands and promised to fulfill them.

ISW notes that, if Putin's claim of a dramatic improvement in Russia's posture on the frontline is true, it could explain why Russian forces are launching more frequent counterattacks, even though they are paying a higher price in the form of higher losses in the Russian military, reports Business Insider's Telegram.

In July, a former Russian general accused Shoigu of treason. The general claimed he was removed from his post after he raised concerns about what Russian forces were facing on the frontline in Ukraine.

Former general Ivan Popov said in a message on Telegram that the Russian army was faced with "the lack of counterattacks, the absence of artillery reconnaissance stations and a large number of casualties and injuries of Russian soldiers from Ukrainian artillery."

Ukraine's counteroffensive has slowed as Kiev's forces try to regain control of territory in the east of the country that is under the control of the Russian army.

Recently, Ukrainian forces managed to break through part of the Russian defenses.