Russia has embarked on a deadly war of attrition after failing to meet its initial objectives in Ukraine, Britain’s chief of defence intelligence has warned.
Lieutenant General Sir Jim Hockenhull said the “reckless and indiscriminate” use of firepower by Russian forces would inevitably lead to more civilian casualties.
“The Kremlin has so far failed to achieve its original objectives. It has been surprised by the scale and ferocity of Ukrainian resistance and has been bedevilled by problems of its own making,” he said in a statement.
“Russian operations have changed. Russia is now pursuing a strategy of attrition. This will involve the reckless and indiscriminate use of firepower.
“This will result in increased civilian casualties, disruption of Ukrainian infrastructure, and intensify the humanitarian crisis.”
At the same time, Hockenhull said that President Vladimir Putin is tightening his control over Russia’s domestic media in an attempt to hide the problems he is facing in his military campaign.
“The Kremlin is attempting to control the narrative, hide operational problems, and obscure high Russian casualty numbers from the Russian people,” he said.
In its latest update on the war in Ukraine, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that Russian forces “have made minimal progress this week.”
“Ukrainian forces around Kyiv and Mykolaiv continue to frustrate Russian attempts to encircle the cities. The cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Mariupol remain encircled and subject to heavy Russian shelling.”
On Friday morning, Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke for about 20 minutes to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the latest situation.
Johnson wrote on Twitter that he “praised the steadfast resistance of the Ukrainian people in the face of aggression.”
“The UK stands with Ukraine—we will send further defensive aid and they have our full backing in the negotiations.”
Earlier, Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said Russia is not making real progress on the ground.
He told BBC Breakfast: “The reality is that, on the big map, the picture looks exactly the same as it has done for the last week. Russia is making no real progress.”
He said the UK is now in the process of training up Ukrainians to use Starstreak anti-aircraft missile system that Britain is supplying and which will arrive in the country “imminently.”
