Russia continues to draw troops and mercenaries to eastern Ukraine, the British Defense Ministry warned on Monday, the Associated Press reported.
“Russian forces continue to consolidate and reorganize, changing the focus of their offensive in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine,” – said in an updated assessment of the development of hostilities, published on social media. It says that Russian troops are being transferred to the eastern Ukrainian region together with mercenaries from the private military group Wagner.
On Sunday evening, Britain said that Russia was still trying to capture Mariupol, where fierce fighting has been going on for several weeks. The port city in southeastern Ukraine is still under intense non-electoral blows, but Ukrainian forces have strong resistance, while retaining control of the central regions,” London said.
The updated assessment emphasizes that “Mariupol is almost certainly the key target of the Russian invasion, as (its capture) will provide a land corridor from Russia to the occupied (Ukrainian) territory of Crimea,” which it annexed in 2014.