Mobilized Russian soldiers are ordered to storm Ukrainian positions with firearms, shovels - UK intelligence

The UK Defense Ministry wrote about this on Twitter.

According to experts, at the end of February 2023, Russian mobilized reservists reported receiving an order to storm a Ukrainian concrete stronghold with only firearms and shovels. One of the reservists said that he was “neither physically nor psychologically” prepared for such events.

The experts noted that shovels are mostly digging tools used for hand-to-hand combat. The lethality of these MPL-50s is particularly mythologized in Russia: “Little changed since it was designed in 1869, its continued use as a weapon highlights the brutal and low-tech fighting which has come to characterize much of the war.”

Recent data indicate an increase in the number of close combat operations in Ukraine: “This is probably a result of the Russian command continuing to insist on offensive action largely consisting of dismounted infantry, with less support from artillery fire because Russia is short of munitions.”

• Last day, UK intelligence analysts reported that two important bridges were destroyed in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, leaving the Ukrainian military vulnerable to Russian attacks from three sides.