RF preparing new assault on Vuhledar – British intelligence

In the near future, the Russian army may again try to achieve some success near Vuhledar, where it suffered heavy losses in February, but it is unlikely that they will have enough resources for this.

The British Ministry of Defense reported this on Twitter.

As noted in the summary, for the past 48 hours, fierce fighting continued in the Bakhmut area, where Ukrainian forces are keeping supply routes open to the west, despite the gradual encirclement by Russia over the past six weeks.

To the south, in the Donetsk Region, the city of Vuhledar was again heavily shelled. According to British intelligence, there is a real possibility that Russia is preparing for further offensives in the area, despite costly failed attacks in early February and late 2022.

The Russian Eastern Group of Forces is probably responsible for the Vuhledar operation. Its commander, Colonel General Rustam Muradov, is likely to be under intense pressure to improve its performance after heavy criticism from the Russian nationalist community following previous failures.

"However, it is unlikely that Muradov has the striking power capable of achieving a breakthrough," the British Ministry of Defense notes.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on February 22, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) repelled about 90 enemy attacks. At the same time, the occupiers failed to attack in two directions.

Meanwhile, in the Russian army, the number of cases of refusal of Russian servicemen from military operations on the territory of Ukraine has increased. In particular, the invaders from the so-called Cossack detachment refuse to participate in the offensive due to the significant losses of the Russians near Vuhledar in the Donetsk Region.