Heavy fighting continues in southern Ukraine: UK Ministry of Defence
Heavy fighting continues in the south of Ukraine, including near the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the British Ministry of Defence said on Friday.
Heavy fighting continues in the south of Ukraine, including near the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the British Ministry of Defence said on Friday.Photo: Wikimedia Commons
In their latest intelligence report on the war in Ukraine, published on Twitter, the UK analysts wrote: “Heavy fighting continues in southern Ukraine, including shelling in Enerhodar district, near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.”
Over the last 24 hours, Ukrainian forces had struck Russian ammunition dumps, troop concentrations and ferry crossings in southern Ukraine, while keeping bridges over the Dnipro river under fire control, the Ukrainian army said on Friday morning, as quoted by Polish state news agency PAP.
Russia holds ‘heavily scripted’ military exercises
Meanwhile, the UK Ministry of Defence also offered a scathing assessment of Russia’s Vostok-22 annual military exercises which began on Thursday.
“Russia publicly claimed that 50,000 troops will take part, however, it’s unlikely that more than 15,000 personnel will be actively involved this year, “ the British analysts said.
“This is around 20% of the forces which participated in the last Vostok exercise in 2018,” they noted.
According to the UK Ministry of Defence, “Russia’s military performance in Ukraine has highlighted that Russia’s military strategic exercises, such as Vostok, have failed to sustain the military’s ability to conduct large scale, complex operations.”
“Such events are heavily scripted, do not encourage initiative, and primarily aim to impress Russian leaders and international audiences,” the British analysts stressed.
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Source: PAP, UK Ministry of Defence
