43 minutes agoBritish Intelligence: Russian tanks fighting shovels in Ukraine
Periskopi(3 years ago)
(3 years ago)Russian reserveers are using “lopata” for fighting in Ukraine due to lack of ammunition, the United Kingdom Ministry says. At the end of February, the reserve described that they were ordered to attack a Ukrainian position “armed with only firearms and shovels”, the ministry said in its latest intelligence update. He mentioned [...]
In late February, the reserve described that they were ordered to attack a Ukrainian position “armed with only firearms and shovels”, the ministry said in its latest intelligence update.
He mentioned a shovel known as MPL-50.
The vehicle was designed in 1869 and had been slightly changed, the ministry said.
“The mortality of the MPL-50 standard implantation tool is particularly mythologyd in Russia,” said the ministry.
Continued use of the shovel “as a weapon highlights brutal and low-tech fighting that has characterised most of the war”, he said.
One of the reserve described it was “physically and neither psychologically” prepared for the action, the update added.
Meanwhile, Russian forces appear to have secured a sufficient positionary advantage in the besieged city of Bakhmu, the Institute for War Research (ISW) said.
Bakhmut has seen months of fighting, while Russia tries to take over the small town, where about 4,000 civilians remain.
Taking the city would be a rare success on the battlefield in recent months for Russia, but the city's strategic value has been questioned.
The ISW said Russia's positionary advantage could allow a <x0 shift” in the city.
The aim of a turning movement is to force the enemy to abandon prepared defence positions and is different from the goal of a siege, which is the capture and destruction of enemy forces, says ISW.
The “Russians may have been aiming to surround Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, but the Ukrainian command has signaled it is likely to withdraw instead of risking a siege,” said ISW.
However, the Ukrainian Army said Sunday it was not planning to withdraw from Bakhm.
A statement by the General Staff of the Armed Forces acknowledged that Russian forces were still trying to surround the city, but said more than 100 attacks had been dropped in the eastern region of Donbas in the last 24 hours.
Thousands of Russian troops have died in an effort to get Bakhmut, who had a pre-war population of about 75,000.
