- Ukrainian defenses of Mariupol block “significant” numbers of Russian troops and equipment.
- Besieged Mariupol has remained under Ukrainian control despite weeks of shelling.
- According to British intelligence, Putin’s forces will need more troops to continue the invasion.
Loading Something is loading.
Ukrainian defenders in besieged Mariupol are tying down a “significant” amount of Russian troops and equipment that will soon be needed elsewhere, British intelligence said on Thursday.
Russian forces are preparing for a renewed offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region, the British Ministry of Defense said tweetedand will require a large number of troops to do so.
But President Vladimir Putin’s troops may be constrained by the ongoing campaign to seize Mariupol, which has remained under Ukrainian control despite constant bombardment by Russian forces.
The strategic southern port city has been surrounded for weeks by the Russian military, which has launched a devastating bombing campaign against the city. Russia has attacked civilian areas including schools, shelters, theaters and hospitals.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “tens of thousands” of Ukrainian civilians could be dead in Mariupol.
Western and NATO officials said Russian troops had moved away from the country’s northern region to concentrate on the Donbass after failing to capture the capital, Kyiv.
British intelligence said Russia was trying to concentrate its forces before the offensive and was using “widespread” shelling tactics, adding that the upcoming military campaign would require “significant forces”.
Satellite images and videos show Russian forces and military convoys en route to the region.
“There could be a major war in Donbass – the likes of which the world has not seen for hundreds of years,” Zelenskyy warned.
Ukraine warned residents of the region to evacuate before the upcoming offensive. Last week, dozens were killed in a Russian missile attack on a Kramatorsk train station as civilians tried to flee the area.