British Intelligence: Report on the situation in Ukraine

According to the assessment of the intelligence service of the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain, the movement of Russian troops and their other actions indicate how seriously Russian commanders consider the threat of offensive operations from Ukraine. 

According to British intelligence: 

• Russia is strengthening its defensive positions in the southern part of Ukraine, in the occupied territories. This includes the movement of manpower, equipment, and defense supplies between Mariupol, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. 

• Russian forces are also increasing security measures in Melitopol.

• For more than a month now, Ukrainian forces have been pressing Russian defense lines in the Kherson region, and both Volodymyr Zelensky and the deputy prime minister have made political statements about expected offensive operations to force the Russians to leave the areas they now control. 

• Russian defensive moves are most likely a response to Ukraine’s alleged offensive operations, a request made by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during his recent visit to Donbas, as well as attacks Ukraine is carrying out against command posts, logistics hubs, and troop concentrations. 

• Given the pressure on Russian manpower, the strengthening of defenses in southern Ukraine alongside the fight for Donbas is likely to indicate how seriously Russian commanders take the threat.

On July 16, the Minister of Defense of Russia, Sergei Shoigu, ordered the Russian army to intensify its operations in Ukraine in all directions.

Before that, on July 11, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov announced that Ukraine is preparing for a huge attack in the southern part of the country. 

According to him, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, ordered the Ukrainian military to occupy the southern regions. 

Russia invaded the territory of Ukraine on February 24 of this year. Since the beginning of the large-scale war, thousands of people have died, several cities have been completely destroyed, and more than 10 million Ukrainians have become refugees.