The British secret services report dramatic conditions in the Russian front-line troops near Cherson: companies that would normally have 100 people consisted of just a few men. Moscow is therefore increasingly focusing on simply defending its positions.
According to the British secret services, the Russian armed forces are extremely weakened in the battle for the strategically important city of Cherson. According to the daily briefing, Moscow has apparently replenished some troops along the Dnipro River with newly mobilized reservists to improve the minimum manpower.
According to the information, Russian companies in the Kherson region in September consisted of six to eight men, according to Russian officers. A company usually consists of about 100 soldiers.
According to London, because of the personnel bottlenecks, Russia is increasingly preparing to defend its positions. In the past few weeks, the Russian ground forces have taken up a long-term, defensive position in most sectors of the front, the Ministry of Defense reported. "This is likely due to a more realistic assessment that Ukraine's severely undermanned, poorly trained force is currently only capable of defensive operations," the intelligence services said in the daily report.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities say they evacuated the Kherson region and took all civilians to Russian-controlled territory. The work of removing residents from the right bank of the Dnipro River is "complete," Moscow-appointed Crimean Peninsula chief Sergei Aksyonov told Telegram. The Ukrainian army said Moscow's "so-called evacuation" is continuing.
The pro-Russian authorities recently asked residents of the Kherson region to cross to the left bank of the Dnipro. On Wednesday, the head of the Kherson region, appointed by Russia, Vladimir Saldo, said that more than 70,000 civilians in the region had evacuated their homes within a week. Ukraine compared the Russian actions to the "deportations" of the Soviet era.
