The US has likely assigned mercenaries to hold parts of the front line in Ukraine because of a “severe shortage” of combat infantry, British defense chiefs said on Friday, as Kyiv steps up its counter-offensive in the country’s south. Greater reliance on paid fighters from Russian private military company Wagner Group for front-line duties instead of their usual work in special operations is seen as further evidence that the Russian military is under pressure six months after the war. “This is a significant change from the team’s previous employment since 2015, when it typically undertook missions other than open, large-scale tactical Russian military activity,” the Defense Ministry said in an intelligence briefing. “Wagner’s role has probably changed because the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is sorely lacking combat infantry, yet Wagner’s forces are highly unlikely to be sufficient to make a significant difference to the trajectory of the war.” Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on Friday that Russia is failing on “many fronts” in the war and President Vladimir Putin may seek to change strategy again. “The Russians are currently failing on the ground in many areas … Putin’s plan A, B and C has failed and he may look to plan D,” he told Sky News.
READ MORE
It comes as officials in Kyiv say they have observed a “massive redeployment” of Russian forces to the south, where British defense officials believe Russia’s 49th Army, located on the west bank of the Dnipro River, is vulnerable. Kyiv said it had stepped up its campaign to retake Russian-held Kherson by trying to bombard and isolate Russian troops in areas that are difficult to resupply. Ukrainian jets struck five Russian strongholds around the city, held by Putin’s forces, and another nearby town on Thursday as part of its counter-offensive. Meanwhile, Russia continued its missile strikes across Ukraine on Friday as Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv in the northeast was hit. The city’s mayor said emergency services were searching for people under the rubble after a two-story building and a higher education institution were hit by shelling on Friday morning. Fifteen people were injured when rockets hit military installations on the edge of Kiev – on Thursday – the capital’s first shelling in weeks – as the country marked a new national holiday to celebrate its independence. Five people were killed and 25 injured in a separate Russian missile attack on a flight school in the city of Kropyvnytskyi in central Ukraine. At least three people were killed and residential buildings were hit as Russian forces shelled the town of Bakhmut, which has been cited by Russia as a key target in its advance through Donetsk.