Ukraine-Russia war – live: Fresh offensive by Putin’s troops ‘unlikely’ as frontline ‘over-stretched’

A fresh offensive from Russia has been deemed ‘unlikely’ by the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD). In an intellegence update on Wednesday, the MoD reported that patterns in Russian deployments suggest that their frontline is “overstretched”. The MoD says that following the creation of Russia’s 25th Combined Arms Army (25 CAA), which was reportedly seen in Ukraine for the first time in August, Moscow has deployed them to reinforce under-defended areas on the frontline. New Russian units are reported to be fighting on the front in a sector west of Severodonetsk and Kreminna, along the border between Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, the MoD say. They suggest that this makes a fresh offensive from Russian forces unlikely, as they were not deployed en masse to one area. A statement from the MoD read: “Since the start of the invasion, Russia has only rarely maintained an uncommitted army-size grouping which could potentially form the basis of a major new offensive thrust. With 25 CAA apparently being deployed piecemeal to reinforce the over-stretched line, a concerted new Russian offensive is less likely over the coming weeks.” Read More Viktor Sokolov seen for second time in newly emerged video as he claims Russia’s Black Sea Fleet ‘performing successfully’ New video of ‘dead’ Russian Black Sea fleet commander raises doubts over Ukraine’s claim Hillary Clinton mocks Putin over Nato expansion: ‘Too bad, Vladimir. You brought it on yourself’ Ukrainian forces ‘enjoy success’ near Bakhmut as Putin deploys reserves