The Russian combined force in Ukraine is believed to number over 200,000. This is reported by the British Ministry of Defense.
The Russian armed forces in Ukraine are divided into five groups of troops and consist of approximately 70 regiments and brigades. According to the agency, their numbers have not changed much since the invasion of Ukraine.
At the same time, in February 2022, the Russian army consisted of professional military personnel, was equipped with modern vehicles and regularly trained with the expectation of complex joint operations.
Meanwhile, now the bulk of it is made up of poorly trained mobilized reservists, many units are severely understaffed and can regularly conduct only simple infantry operations; Russian troops are increasingly dependent on outdated equipment.
In this regard, the British Ministry of Defense concludes that Russia is unlikely to be able to create a large, capable, mobile reserve to respond to emerging problems on a 1200-kilometer front line.
On the evening of May 11, several state-run Russian war correspondents reported the start of a counteroffensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in almost all directions of the front.
The founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said the day before that “the flanks are already cracking and falling through.” In the telegram channel of his press service, a letter was published to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu with a proposal to come to Bakhmut in order to assess the situation himself.
In turn, CNN, citing unnamed sources – a US military official and a senior Western official, said that Ukraine had launched operations to prepare the expected counteroffensive. “Battlefield shaping” operations include strikes against Russian weapons depots, command centers, artillery systems – a common tactic before major operations, writes CNN.
Source: Spektr News
