Worsening ground conditions are helping Russian forces defend and slow the progress of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, British defence chiefs have said.
Despite the delivery of western tanks in the months leading up to the renewed offensive this summer, Ukraine’s advances have failed to make a significant breakthrough.
In its latest update on Thursday, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said undergrowth regrowing across the battlefields in the south of Ukraine has hindered advances.
The update read: “The predominately arable land in the combat zone has now been left fallow for 18 months, with the return of weeds and shrubs accelerating under the warm, damp summer conditions.
“The extra cover helps camouflage Russian defensive positions and makes defensive mine fields harder to clear.”
Amid the reports of a stalled offensive, Poland’s prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned that Wagner Group troops may try to destabilise Nato’s eastern flank.
Some 1,000 fighters moved into Belarus following the aborted coup in June and have since been training close to the border.
“We need to be aware that the number of provocations will rise,” Mr Morawiecki said after meeting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in eastern Poland.
“The Wagner group is extremely dangerous and they are being moved to the eastern flank to destabilise it.”
As well as the threat from Wagner forces, Russia has targeted Ukrainian infrastructure in recent months.
The Kremlin has also pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal and has begun hitting ports and silos.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said a grain silo and other infrastructure were damaged at the Danube port of Izmail in the Odesa region following the latest Russian strike on Wednesday.
