Ukrainian forces make significant progress against Russian forces, British government reports

Ukrainian forces have made significant progress on the southern and eastern fronts over the past 48 hours, the British government said.

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DI), under the British Ministry of Defense, said in its latest battle report on the 10th, “It is highly likely that Ukrainian forces have made significant progress in some areas and have penetrated the first line of defense of the Russian forces.” On the other hand, “in other areas, progress in Ukraine has been slow,” he said.

The Ukrainian government said that the previous day (9th), fierce fighting took place in the eastern Donetsk region, and that Ukrainian forces had secured more positions in the Bakhmut area.

The British Ministry of Defense said “Russian military performance has been mixed”.

“While some units appeared to be conducting credible defensive operations, others withdrew through minefields laid by the Russians and withdrew in confusion, with reports of casualties increasing,” the British DI said.

Experts disagree on whether Ukraine has launched a major counteroffensive to retake territory held by Russia.

The Ukrainian government has not yet officially said it has launched a counter-offensive.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that a major Ukrainian counterattack had begun and that the Ukrainian forces were failing.

Meanwhile, President Putin said at a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who was visiting Russia on the 9th, that he would soon deploy tactical nuclear weapons.

“Everything is going according to plan,” Putin said, adding that the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons will begin on the 7th and 8th of next month, as soon as the facilities in Belarus are ready.

Russia and Belarus announced in March that they had agreed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

VOA News