06 October 2022, Thursday, 11:44 1124

British intelligence calls dilemma that arose for Russians due to AFU’s offensive

Редактор: Roman Vaniyan

The successful offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kherson Region made Russia face a dilemma: run across the Dnieper River or stay and defend. To stabilize the front, they might use the newly mobilized.

The British Ministry of Defense reported this on Twitter.

The British intelligence report notes that the AFU began a new phase of offensive operations in the Kherson Region on October 2, 2022. Advancing southward, Ukrainian units moved the front line another 20 km, mostly occupying positions on the eastern bank of the Inhulets River west of the Dnipro River, but not yet threatening the main defensive positions of Russia.

According to British intelligence, Russian forces generally refused to engage and retreated. The Russian command will likely view the growing threat to the Nova Kakhovka sector as one of its most pressing concerns. The damaged crossing of the Dnipro River in the area remains one of the few routes available to them to replenish their forces.

"Russia faces a dilemma: the withdrawal of combat forces across the Dnipro River makes the defense of the rest of the Kherson Region more reliable; but the political imperative will be to stay and defend," the message reads.

Russia sent most of its severely undermanned airborne forces, the Airborne Forces, to the defense of Kherson. "Thus, Russia currently has few additional, high-quality rapid deployment forces available to stabilize the front: it is probably aimed at transferring mobilized reserves to this sector," the British Ministry of Defense notes.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, earlier tonight President Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed Ukrainians that the AFU liberated three more settlements in the course of a counteroffensive in the Kherson Region.

According to the head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, Serhii Haidai, the AFU crossed the administrative border of the Luhansk Region and already liberated six settlements.

Meanwhile, the counteroffensive of the AFU forced the collaborators to flee deep into the occupied territories.