Russia is increasingly losing initiative in war, - British intelligence
Since the beginning of May 2023, the Russian army has been increasingly losing the initiative in combat operations and is forced to react to the actions of Ukraine’s defenders rather than move towards its own military goals.
This conclusion was reached by the UK intelligence service, Censor.NET reports, citing the British Ministry of Defence.
"Since the beginning of May 2023, Russia has been increasingly ceding the initiative in the conflict and reacting to Ukraine's actions, rather than actively pursuing its own military goals," the report says.
British intelligence noted that in May, Russia carried out 20 nighttime unilateral attacks with drones and cruise missiles deep inside Ukraine. However, Russia did not have much success in achieving its alleged goals: neutralising Ukraine's advanced air defence and destroying the Ukrainian air defence forces.
On the ground, Russia has redeployed its troops to respond to guerrilla attacks in western Russia.
"Operationally, the Russian command is likely to be trying to build up reserve forces and position them where they believe a Ukrainian counterattack will occur. However, this has likely been undermined by the fact that the unused forces have instead been deployed to fill gaps in the front line around Bakhmut," the report said.
