The former head of the British General Staff, General Richard Dunnatt, believes that the Russians in Kherson are facing imminent defeat, so they are creating "a controlled withdrawal to make it look less chaotic."
He said this in an interview with the Sky News channel.
"The Russians are obviously thinking about trying to turn what is probably an inevitable defeat into some kind of managed care, to make it look less chaotic from their perspective," Dunnatt said.
At the same time, he added that "on the battlefield, the Russians are still behind, so we see pressure elsewhere," and that is why Moscow has targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Regarding Russia's false claims that Ukraine could use a "dirty bomb," Dunnatt agrees with the Institute for the Study of War's assessment that the main goal is to distort the vision of the big picture.
According to him, it is unlikely that Russia will conduct an operation under a foreign flag, as it would not want to drop a "dirty bomb" on four key areas that it has annexed and now considers its territory.
This will not happen if the Kremlin "still has some logic left," Dunnatt believes.
As British intelligence has reported, Russia is making significant efforts to prepare defenses in depth behind the current front line to deter any swift counterattacks by Ukraine.