Because of Ukraine's offensive in the south, Russian commanders faced a dilemma: deploy operational reserves to support their offensive in Donbas or defend against Ukrainian forces in the south.
This is stated in the intelligence review of the British Ministry of Defense on Wednesday.
"During the last day, heavy fighting took place on three fronts: in the north near Kharkiv, in the east in the Donbas, and in the south in the Kherson region. The main planned Russian effort is probably connected with the offensive on Bakhmut in the Donbas, but the commanders are faced with a dilemma: either to deploy operational reserves to support this offensive or to defend against Ukraine's offensive in the south," the review said.
British intelligence believes that multiple simultaneous threats spread over 500km will test Russia's ability to coordinate an operational plan and reallocate resources between multiple force groups.
At the same time, as it is claimed, at the beginning of the war, Russia's inability to do this was one of the main reasons for the poor performance of its armed forces.
A representative of the US Department of Defense, Brigadier General Pat Ryder, confirmed that Ukrainian forces have regained control over several villages near Kherson.
According to media reports, the administration of US President Joe Biden has been helping the Ukrainian military prepare for a counteroffensive in the south for the past two months, meeting their specific requests for military assistance.
