Defense and attack at the same time
“Russia risks splitting up its troops”
09/02/2023 10:13 am
In the south, the Ukrainian troops are slowly advancing, in the east Russia wants to hold on to land gains. Both together could overwhelm the Russian army, says the British Ministry of Defense in its daily intelligence update.
According to British assessments, Russia is risking dividing its troops by simultaneously trying to repel the Ukrainian counter-offensive in southern Ukraine and attack in the east itself.
The British Ministry of Defense writes in its daily intelligence update that Russia is continuing its advances at Kupyansk in eastern Ukraine in a bid to force the Ukrainian attackers to split their forces between the south and east. “Given that Russia has made modest gains near Kupyansk since the start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in June, it will most likely seek to capitalize on this by continuing to provide the Axis with resources,” it said. However, Russia itself could be forced to split up its troops in order to prevent a breakthrough by Ukraine in the south on the so-called Orikhiv axis.
There, Ukrainian forces have reached the first main Russian line of defense, according to the British Ministry of Defense. Units of the 58th Army and airborne troops would stop the Ukrainians.
The village of Orikhiv is located in Zaporizhia Oblast. Ten kilometers south of Orikhiv, the Ukrainian army liberated the town of Robotyne a week ago and then continued to advance. The targets of this southern offensive are the cities of Melitopol and Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov. Along with attacks on the Crimean Bridge, Ukraine wants to cut off Russian supply lines to Crimea and the occupied territories north of the peninsula.
The US, Kiev’s biggest supporter, said on Friday that Ukraine had made “remarkable progress” against Russian troops in the south of the country. Responding to criticism that Kiev’s fight against Moscow’s southern forces had made little progress in the past three months, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the fight had been slower than Ukraine itself had hoped. “Nevertheless, over the past 72 or so hours, we have seen some notable advances by Ukrainian forces on the southern front line.”