Russia's war in Ukraine is about to enter a new phase, with most fighting shifting to a nearly 350 kilometre front stretching southwest from near Zaporizhzhia to Kherson, parallel to the Dnieper River, British military intelligence said on Saturday.
Russian forces are almost certainly amassing in the south of Ukraine, anticipating a counter-offensive or in preparation for a possible assault, the UK's Ministry of Defence said on Twitter.
Long convoys of Russian military trucks, tanks, towed artillery and other weapons continue to move away from Ukraine's Donbas region and are headed southwest. Battalion tactical groups (BTG), which comprise between 800 and 1,000 troops, have been deployed to Crimea and would almost certainly be used to support Russian troops in the Kherson region, the update said.
Ukraine's forces are focusing their targeting on bridges, ammunition depots, rail links with growing frequency in its southern regions, including the strategically important railroad spur that links Kherson to Russian-occupied Crimea, it said.