UK intelligence identifies focus for new phase in Russia's war on Ukraine

This was reported by the UK Ministry of Defense on Twitter.

The UK intelligence draws attention to the fact that Russian troops are almost certainly massing in Southern Ukraine in anticipation of a counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces or preparing for a possible assault. Long convoys of Russian military trucks, tanks, towed artillery, as well as other weapons continue to move away from Donbas in the direction of the southwest. It is also reported that the equipment was moving from the Russian-occupied Melitopol, Berdyansk, Mariupol, and from the Russian mainland via the Kerch Bridge to Crimea.

Battalion tactical groups numbering 800 to 1,000 servicemen are deployed in Crimea and will almost certainly be used to support the Russian forces in the Kherson region. On August 2, a new battalion tactical group was transferred to Crimea. The occupiers are being redeployed from the eastern group of troops as well. They will probably be sent to the Kherson region in the coming days.

The British note that Ukrainian forces are increasingly striking bridges, ammunition depots and railways in the southern regions of Ukraine, in particular, they are striking the strategically important railway branch that connects Kherson with Crimea occupied by Russia. All this is aimed at worsening the material and technical replenishment of the Russian Federation's reserves.

"Russia's war against Ukraine is about to enter a new phase, when the heaviest fighting will shift to the front line about 350 km long, stretching southwest from Zaporizhzhia to Kherson, parallel to the Dnipro River", the UK intelligence concluded.