March 17 () –
The Intelligence services of the United Kingdom have pointed out this Friday that the Russian forces maintain “one of the lowest offensive action rates” since January 2023 in the framework of the offensive in Ukraine, at a time when Moscow maintains the focus around the capture of the city of Bakhmut, located in Donetsk (east).
“During the last few days, the Russian forces and the Wagner Group have managed to secure positions west of the Bakhmutka River, in the center of the disputed city of Bakhmut, in Donbas,” they said, before indicating that “during the last week , the river has marked the front line” and that “the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to defend the western part of the city”.
On the contrary, they have emphasized that “generally on the front line, Russia is carrying out one of the lowest rates of offensive action seen since at least January 2023”, something that they have attributed to the fact that Russian troops “have temporarily depleted the combat power of deployed formations to a level where even local offensive actions are not sustainable.”
“Russian leaders are likely looking to regenerate the force’s offensive potential once personnel and ammunition stores are replenished,” they said. “In the meantime, commanders will probably be forced to choose between carrying out offensive operations and a credible defense of the entire (front) line,” they said, according to a series of messages published by the British Ministry of Defense through the social network Twitter.
