Russia facing dilemma in light of Ukraine's offensive in Kherson Oblast, says British intel
The MoD says that on Oct. 2, Ukrainian forces began a new phase of offensive operations in Kherson Oblast.
Read also: Explosions rock hotel in occupied Kherson, rumored to quarter FSB officers
Moving south, Ukrainian units pushed the front line another 20 km, primarily by advancing along the eastern bank of the Inhulets River and the western bank of the Dnipro River, but have not yet threatened Russia’s primary defensive positions.
"Russian commanders are likely to see the growing threat to the Nova Kakhovka sector as one of their most pressing concerns," the report reads.
Read also: Ukrainian Army liberates several settlements in Kherson Oblast
The damaged Dnipro crossing in the area remains one of the few ways available to them to replenish their forces, UK intelligence notes.
"Russia faces a dilemma: withdrawal of combat forces across the Dnipro makes defense of the rest of Kherson Oblast more tenable; but the political imperative will be to remain and defend," the agency added.
It is also noted that Russia has sent most of its severely understaffed airborne forces to defend Kherson.
"Therefore, Russia currently has few additional, high quality rapidly deployable forces available to stabilize the front: it likely aims to deploy mobilized reservists to the sector," UK intelligence analysts believe.
In his evening address on Oct. 4, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are advancing rapidly in the south as part of an ongoing liberation operation, and this week alone, dozens of settlements in Kherson, Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts were liberated from the occupiers' sham “referendums”.
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