Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - According to the British Ministry of Defence, Russia has asked mercenaries to hold some of the lines in ...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - According to the British Ministry of Defence, Russia has asked mercenaries to hold some of the lines in Ukraine as an indication that it is running low on combat infantry as Kyiv intensifies its counteroffensive in the south.
Another indication that Russia's military is under strain six months into its conflict in Ukraine is a greater dependence on paid fighters from the Russian private military corporation Wagner Group for frontline activities as opposed to their customary employment in special operations.
In contrast, the British Defense Ministry stated in an intelligence report that it was unlikely for Wagner mercenaries to compensate for the loss of conventional infantry forces or change the course of Russia's invasion.
The ministry posted on Twitter, "This is a substantial change from the group's prior employment since 2015, when it normally executed tasks apart from overt, large-scale regular Russian military activities."
Outside of regular business hours, Wagner and the Kremlin were not immediately accessible for comment.
A "major redeployment" of Russian soldiers to the south, where British defence authorities believe Russia's 49th Army, stationed on the west bank of the Dnipro River, is vulnerable, was observed, according to Kyiv officials on Wednesday.
British intelligence said on Thursday that the southern city of Kherson, which was crucial to Russia's overland supply lines from Russian-annexed Crimea, was now essentially shut off from the other territories held by Russia.
Russian forces quickly took control of the Kherson region after starting what Moscow refers to as "a special military operation" on February 24. The invasion by Russia is seen by Ukraine as a conquest-style imperial war.
In recent weeks, the Ukrainian military has severely damaged three bridges over the Dnipro using long-range missile weapons provided by the West, making it more difficult for Russia to feed its forces on the western bank.
On Thursday, the target of its largest counteroffensive of the conflict, Ukraine claimed that its jets had attacked five Russian outposts in the area of Kherson and another adjacent city.
On Thursday, Russia bombed the environs of Kiev for the first time in days. Oleksiy Kuleba, the regional governor, reported on Telegram that fifteen people were hurt when missiles struck military sites in the capital's outskirts in the Vyshhorod area.
While visiting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke in front of the legislature, air raid sirens were sounding.
The attack destroyed the sense of normalcy that had returned to Kyiv after Russian forces gave up their attempts to take the city in the early weeks of the conflict in the face of tenacious Ukrainian resistance.
According to regional governor Vyacheslav Chausov, more than ten Russian missiles also struck the Chernihiv region northeast of Kyiv on Thursday. Chernihiv had gone weeks without being targeted, much like Kyiv.
More than 20 missiles were fired at the Russian bordering Chernihiv region from a facility in Belarus, according to the Ukrainian military's North district command. Belarus is a close ally of Russia.
The combat reports were not confirmed by Reuters.
ESSENTIAL FRONT
While Russia continues to fight for control of the entire industrialised Donbas region in the east, which includes the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, Ukraine is launching counterattacks in the south.
According to the Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko on Telegram, Russian soldiers shelled the village of Bakhmut four times on Thursday. Russia has identified Bakhmut as a key target in its push through Donetsk. According to him, three individuals were hurt and at least three died.
International efforts to reopen Ukrainian ports and permit the export of grain and other goods persisted even while the conflict raged.
Grain shortages that have forced tens of millions of people worldwide to endure skyrocketing food costs and hunger should be relieved by allowing safe passage for grain shipments from Ukraine.
Grain exports from Black Sea ports will now be allowed after Russia and Ukraine reached a deal last week, but U.N. assistance director Martin Griffiths said "crucial" arrangements for the safe passage of vessels were still being worked out.
Griffiths believed the first grain shipment from a port on the Black Sea in Ukraine could arrive as early as Friday.
