Russia makes marginal progress in Kharkiv, Severodonetsk remains its main target: UK MoD

As the war between Russia and Ukraine escalates, the UK Defence Ministry issued the latest intelligence update about the ongoing situation in the war-torn nation. The Defence Ministry said that Russia's operational effort continues to assault the Severodonetsk in Donbass. It further said that the Western group of Russian armed forces have been able to make small advances in the Kharkiv region. The British Defence Ministry noted that Russian forces have been able to make small advances for the first time in several weeks. 

"Russia's operational main effort remains the assault against the Sieverodonetsk pocket in the Donbas and its Western Group of forces have likely made small advances in the Kharkiv sector for the first time in several weeks, the UK Defence Ministry said in the latest intelligence update. 

According to the British Defence Ministry, the First Deputy Chairman of Russia's Military-Industrial Commission predicted that state defence expenditure will increase by 600-700 billion rubles. It also noted that the Russian government spending will enable Moscow's defence industrial base to be slowly mobilised to meet requirements caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine. UK MoD stressed that the Russian defence industry might face difficulties in fulfilling many of its needs, partially due to the sanctions imposed by the EU nations against Russia and lack of expertise. It also said that Russia's production of high-quality optics and advanced electronics likely remains affected and it could lead to issues in efforts that they are making to replace the equipment lost in Ukraine. 

'Russian forces want to destroy Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia': Zelenskyy

As the Russia-Ukraine war transcended 110th day, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian troops from Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. In his late-night address on 13 June, Zelenskyy stated that a large part of the Kharkiv region has been liberated and more than a thousand settlements have been liberated. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Russian armed forces have halted their military offensive in southern Ukraine. He claimed that Russian forces seek to destroy Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and the cities of the Dnipropetrovsk region. He further said, "We are dealing with absolute evil. And we have no choice but to move on. Free our entire territory. Drive the occupiers out of all our regions." 

Image: AP