Russia may have lost as much as a third of the ground force it had committed when it invaded Ukraine, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
In its latest defense intelligence update, released on Sunday, the ministry said that Russian forces had suffered heavy losses in their attack on Donbass, and that “under current conditions, Russia is unlikely to drastically accelerate its rate of advance in the next 30 days”.
The folder also assessed that the offensive “was significantly delayed. Despite initial small-scale advances, Russia has failed to make substantial territorial gains over the past month, maintaining consistently high levels of attrition.”
“Russia has now likely suffered losses of a third of the ground combat force it committed in February,” the ministry added.
It is unclear how the ministry arrived at this assessment. Russia is believed to have deployed around 100 tactical battalion groups for the offensive in eastern Ukraine, but Western officials say many of these groups are short-stacked.
The UK intelligence assessment highlights that delays in Russian operations “will almost certainly be exacerbated by the loss of crucial enablers such as bridge equipment and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drones”.
“Russian bridge equipment was in short supply throughout the conflict, slowing and restricting offensive maneuver. the UAVs [drones] Russians are vital for tactical awareness and artillery targeting, but have been vulnerable to Ukrainian anti-aircraft capabilities,” he adds.
“Many of these capabilities cannot be quickly replaced or reconstituted and will likely continue to disrupt Russian operations in Ukraine,” the text adds.
Last week, Russia lost substantial bridge equipment as it tried to cross the Siverskyi Donets River. The Russians tried and apparently failed to place several pontoons – a kind of boat that can create a floating platform – on the other side of the river in an effort to encircle Ukrainian troops.
Satellite images analyzed by CNN show that at least three bridges were destroyed this week and the Russians suffered heavy losses. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military claimed to have substantially diminished the capabilities of using Russian drones.
Source: CNN Brasil
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