Ukrainian counteroffensives in the northeast and southern regions of the Eastern European country have sent Russian troops scrambling as Kyiv continues to liberate territory once occupied by President Vladimir Putin's forces, UK intel says.
Britain's Ministry of Defence shared in a Monday intelligence update that Russia has likely pulled its troops from significant chunks of territory in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, where the country's second-largest city is located.
In some areas along the southern front, Russian forces are struggling to deploy reserve troops to the frontlines, the update said.
"The majority of the force in Ukraine is highly likely being forced to prioritize emergency defensive actions," Britain's defense ministry said. "The already limited trust deployed troops have in Russia's senior military leadership is likely to deteriorate further."
The speed of Ukraine's counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region — which saw significant breakthroughs over the weekend after gaining momentum last week — has stunned Russian troops, who have fled their positions in civilian clothes, even looting property and vehicles from locals near Kharkiv, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Facebook post.
In their escape, Russian troops also left lots of weaponry and ammunition, an unidentified Ukrainian told The Telegraph.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in a Sunday analysis that the Kharkiv counteroffensive has been a "major operational defeat" for Russia, thanks to Ukraine's "skillful" campaign that saw it leverage Western weapons like the much-celebrated and US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).
"Western weapons systems were necessary but not sufficient to secure success for Ukraine. The Ukrainian employment of those systems in a well-designed and well-executed campaign has generated the remarkable success of the counter-offensive operations" in Kharkiv, the analysis read.
Russia has framed its battlefield withdrawals and setbacks as the "regrouping" of forces, state media has reported, as some Kremlin allies express their frustration with Putin's war machine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said that Ukraine has liberated around 1,250 square miles of previously occupied territory since the beginning of September when his military began its counteroffensives.
"Ukraine always returns. We demonstrate it well. The entire Donetsk region will be liberated, will be safe and happy again, as it should be in Ukraine, as it should be everywhere on our land," he said.
