In view of the Russian losses in Ukraine, according to the British Ministry of Defence, more reservists are now needed. It assumes that the Russian leadership may continue to hesitate to order a general mobilization.
According to Great Britain, the Russian army wants to primarily use reservists in its war against Ukraine. The combat reserve consists of voluntary part-time workers who are actually intended for security tasks in the rear of the front, said the Ministry of Defense in London, citing intelligence information.
Battalions would probably be filled with veterans who have served in the past five years. “Despite a continuing shortage of operational reservists for Ukraine, the Russian leadership is likely to remain reluctant to order a general mobilization,” it said. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense put Russian losses at 35,000 this Monday. The numbers cannot be independently verified. Moscow – like Ukraine – is keeping a low profile when it comes to its own losses.
Tactically, according to information from London, the Russian focus is still on the pocket around the neighboring cities of Sievjerodonetsk and Lysychansk. But the British ministry also sees an additional plan: “A week of constant heavy shelling indicates that Russia is now trying to gain momentum on the northern Izyum axis.” However, the Ukrainian forces would hold the line there, making good use of the forested terrain for defense.
The British Navy has no plans to help bypass the Russian blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports. “We’re looking at what we can do to help repair railways, we’re looking at a land bridge so we can get wheat across the land border,” Prime Minister George Eustice told Sky News. “It’s very, very dangerous right now to try to send ships into the Black Sea.” The area is mined and Ukraine itself has closed ports for security reasons, Eustice said.
The Ukrainian military had previously announced that it said it had repelled Russian attacks west of Lyssychansk and thus prevented the strategically important city in eastern Ukraine from being surrounded. “Near Verkhnyokamyanka, the defense forces inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy and forced them to retreat,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in its situation report.
