British intelligence: Due to Ukraine's offensive, russia faces choice — to attack or defend
Due to the gradual offensive of Ukraine in the south, russian commanders faced a dilemma: defend against Ukrainian forces in the south or continue to advance in Donbas
Rubryka informs about this, referring to the British Ministry of Defense review as of September 7.
"Over the last 24 hours, heavy fighting has taken place on three fronts:
- in the north, near Kharkiv;
- in the east in the Donbas;
- and in the south in Kherson Oblast.
russia's planned main effort is probably an advance on Bakhmut in the Donbas, but commanders face a dilemma of whether to deploy operational reserves to support this offensive or to defend against continued Ukrainian advances in the south," British intelligence reports.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 7 September 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/uMpaVHvewn
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/hwazhGYNV8
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) September 7, 2022
British intelligence believes that multiple simultaneous threats spread over 500 km will test russia's ability to coordinate an operational plan. And also the ability to redistribute resources between several groups of forces.
At the same time, according to the British Ministry of Defense, at the beginning of the war, russia's inability to do this was one of the main reasons for the poor performance of its armed forces.
A US Department of Defense representative, Brigadier General Pat Ryder, confirmed on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had regained control over several villages near Kherson.
According to media reports, the administration of US President Joe Biden has been helping the Ukrainian military prepare for a counteroffensive in the south for the past two months, meeting their specific requests for military assistance.
Also, British intelligence believes that russian troops have problems paying for the so-called "service" in Ukraine.
Earlier, the British Ministry of Defense reported that russian military-strategic exercises failed to ensure the ability of the russian army to conduct large-scale, complex operations.
Also, British intelligence reported a slight shift of the front line somewhere in the south.