The Russian position in southern Ukraine has been significantly weakened by Ukrainian counter-attacks on strategically important river crossings, according to British intelligence.
The two main road bridges on the Dnipro river can presumably no longer be used to transport significant military equipment to Russian-occupied areas west of the river, a British Ministry of Defence update said on Saturday.
The Russians have only managed to make superficial repairs to the key Antonivka bridge in recent days, it said. The other key bridge had been rendered impassable to heavy military vehicles by Ukrainian attacks with precision weapons in recent days, it said. The main railway bridge near Kherson is also reported to have been further damaged.
In order to organize military supplies, Moscow had recently relied mainly on a ferry connection near the bridge.
Even after further repairs, the bridges would probably remain a weak point of the Russian offensive. Supplies and provisions for thousands of Russian troops on the west side of the Dnipro depend on two temporary ferry connections, the intelligence report said.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began at the end of February, the British government has regularly published intelligence on its progress. Moscow accuses London of a targeted disinformation campaign.
